We Wait for the Sun

A beautiful and uplifting non-fiction picture book from Katie McCabe and trailblazing civil rights lawyer and activist Dovey Johnson Roundtree, We Wait for the Sun.

In the hour before dawn, Dovey Mae and Grandma Rachel step into the cool, damp night on a secret mission: to find the sweetest, ripest blackberries that grow deep in the woods.

But the nighttime holds a thousand sounds--and a thousand shadows--and Dovey Mae is frightened of the dark. But with the fierce and fearless Grandma Rachel at her side, the woods turn magical, and berry picking becomes an enchanting adventure that ends with the beauty and power of the sunrise.

A cherished memory from Dovey Johnson Roundtree's childhood, this magical experience speaks to the joy that pulsed through her life, even under the shadow of Jim Crow. With Grandma Rachel's lessons as her guiding light, Dovey Mae would go on to become a trailblazer of the civil rights movement--fighting for justice and equality in the military, the courtroom, and the church. With warm, vibrant illustrations from Raissa Figueroa, We Wait for the Sun is a resonant, beautiful story told through one exquisite page turn after another.

A Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book of 2021
Evanston Public Library 101 Great Books for Kids List of 2021

Author: Katie McCabe
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Published: 02/09/2021
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.85lbs
Size: 11.20h x 8.70w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781250229021
Audience: Ages 4-8

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.3
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 513637 / We Wait for the Sun


Award: Coretta Scott King Award - Honor Book


Review Citation(s):
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 12/01/2020
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2020
Publishers Weekly 12/07/2020
Kirkus Reviews 01/01/2021 pg. 126
Booklist 02/01/2021 pg. 44
Shelf Awareness 02/19/2021
School Library Journal 03/12/2021 pg. 1
Horn Book Magazine 05/01/2021 pg. 156

About the Author

Dovey Johnson Roundtree was an attorney and minister who was one of the first women to be commissioned an Army officer and who helped win a landmark case banning segregation in interstate bus travel. She died in 2018 at the age of 104.

Katie McCabe is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Washingtonian Magazine, Baltimore Magazine, and Reader's Digest, among others. Her National Magazine Award-winning article on black medical legend Vivien Thomas was the basis for the HBO film Something the Lord Made, winner of three Emmys and a 2005 Peabody award.

Raissa Figueroa is a children's book illustrator and overall art lover based out of San Diego, California. She loves taking early morning walks through her neighborhood to greet the sun before it rises with her dog, Ghost, to gather inspiration from the beauty of nature that surrounds us. She is also the illustrator of Sophie and the Little Star, written by Amber Hendricks.