Doreen Rappaport: Celebrating the Not-Yet-Celebrated, by Katherine Pierpont

This spirited author searches out the stories from our history that may not have otherwise been told

"For anyone who was involved in the Civil Rights movement, the anti-war movement or the feminist movement – it doesn't leave your soul. It's embedded in you," said Doreen.

It's hard to get through reading one of Doreen Rappaport's books without drawing in a deep breath of incredulity, shock or awe. As a writer who has made a career out of shining a light on "extraordinary, ordinary people," Doreen's books bring kids' attention to the not-so-pretty side of life and the turbulent, disturbing times in our history. When we met with Doreen in her New York City apartment this February, we spoke at length about how she initially became drawn to the stories of, as she refers to her subjects, "not-yet-celebrated Americans."

Unknown heroes.
In 1965, Doreen traveled to Mississippi to teach music at a freedom school. The Civil Rights movement was in full swing in the South and she encountered many people who would have given anything for the rights that she herself had and took for granted. "These were heroes that nobody had heard about. I couldn't believe their courage," she said.

She wanted to celebrate her students' heritage in her music classes and teach them African American spirituals and freedom songs. Her father, who was a music and vocal arranger, created arrangements for her students to learn. To Doreen, the next logical step was to encourage the children to read more on some of the events about which they were singing. She was unable to find any books at all. "When I was teaching in the sixties, there were no books on Harriet Tubman. It's hard to believe! The only books on women were about Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Addams and Amelia Earhart. And Eleanor was always Franklin's wife!" she said.

Teaching in Mississippi, she told us, was a life-changing experience. When she returned, she ruminated about the "ordinary" heroes she had met who were changing history every day and how that history was not being recorded and passed down to future generations. She felt compelled toward these stories that no one else was writing and started to send out book proposals. "When I started doing this work, I said to my father, 'Nobody wants this stuff.' He said to me, 'You do,'" she remembered. Did she always know that writing books for children was where she was headed? "No! I wanted to be a pop singer!" she laughed.

"It took a lot of years (although she had written curriculum material, her first book was published when she was around 45) and I always try to tell that to writers," Doreen said. "You've got to find your own voice and take a chance on yourself."

The truth is out there.
After her first book, The Boston Coffee Party, was published by HarperCollins in 1988, Doreen saw that a demand for the types of nonfiction books she always wanted to write was finally starting to emerge. She tackled subjects that were previously difficult to find in books for children, such as the true accounts of five former slaves (Escape from Slavery, HarperCollins, 1991), Zitkala-Sa, the Native American reformer who was uprooted from her family and sent to boarding school by the U.S. government (The Flight of Red Bird, Dial, 1997) and the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (Dirt on Their Skirts: The Story of the Young Women Who Won the World Championship, Dial, 2000) – just to name a few. "I was fascinated by truth because it's so easy for us to misunderstand what truth is," she said.

"I want to write stories that empower kids to know that other people empowered themselves. If I have a mission, that's my mission!"

Picture this.
After years of being wary of taking the plunge into historical fiction, Doreen recently co-authored the books Victory or Death! Stories of the American Revolution (HarperCollins, 2003) and United No More! Stories of the Civil War (HarperCollins, 2006) with Joan Verniero. "It's only recently I've done historical fiction because it always worries me that kids will think a story is not grounded in truth," she said. No worries there; Doreen Rappaport is a writer who does her research – and then some. Oftentimes, the writing of her books will take close to two years because of all the research involved.

To make sure she doesn't burn out on what's considered "heavier" material, Doreen has also successfully tried her hand at writing picture books and has found that the stories of the not-yet-celebrated have a place in this medium as well. One of her most notable picture books is the deeply poetic Freedom River (Hyperion, 2000), which brings us the story of John Parker, an ex-slave who bought his freedom and helped to lead slaves from Kentucky across the river to the free state of Ohio. Illustrator Bryan Collier, who employs the use of watercolor and collage in this remarkable book, shows the reflection of the river on each of the slaves' faces. Doreen and Bryan have also paired up for John's Secret Dreams: The Life of John Lennon (Hyperion, 2004) and Martin's Big Words (Hyperion, 2001), which was named both a Caldecott honor and Coretta Scott King honor book.

Every word counts.
Her earlier days of teaching music also recently came into play with her books No More! Stories and Songs of the Slave Resistance (Candlewick Press, 2002) and Free at Last! Stories and Songs of Emancipation (Candlewick Press, 2004). The final book in the series, Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement is due in October 2006. "I have to say that my editors are extraordinary. There's so much brilliant editing done in children's books because it's a field in which every word does still count," she said.

One "extraordinary ordinary" story Doreen says that she's particularly proud of uncovering is featured in The School Is Not White! A True Story of the Civil Rights Movement (Hyperion, 2005). In 1965, seven of Matthew and Mae Bertha Carter's children signed up to go to all-white schools in Mississippi under the "freedom of choice" plan that the country decided to offer. Doreen continues to keep in touch with the now-grown Carter siblings. "They're just an amazing family," she said.

When Doreen's not writing, she's traveling – whether it's to explore a location that she's researching in one of her upcoming books or to visit a school. Many times she'll bring her latest manuscript with her to hear what the kids think. "It's the only way to keep in touch," she said. "These are not books that kids race to take off the library shelf. This is my chance to see what's working. It's also a way of finding out how teachers and librarians are using my books."

For someone who is fervently devoted to showcasing stories that have a right to be heard, Doreen Rappaport is matter-of-fact when reflecting on her life's work. "I'm lucky. I only write what I want to write," she said. We're lucky, too.

Katherine Pierpont, senior editor Teaching K-8 magazine.