Singing with Momma Lou

Myers Outstanding Book Awards - Honorable Mention, Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America

A young African American girl helps her grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, regain some of her memories.

Nine-year-old Tamika Jordan dreads visiting her grandmother at the nursing home. Momma Lou has Alzheimer's and always forgets who Tamika is. After her father shows her Momma Lou's scrapbooks, Tamika comes up with an idea to jog Momma Lou's memory. Tamika is successful in reaching her grandmother one day when Momma Lou recognizes a newspaper clipping of a Civil Rights demonstration and leads everybody in a celebration of song.

Linda Jacobs Altman tells a moving story of intergenerational love and hope, while Larry Johnson's evocative paintings bring this memorable story to life. This a book to be shared by the whole family.

Altman learned about the effects of Alzheimer's when her mother was stricken with the disease. While it was a tragic experience, she learned from her mother the power of the human spirit.

Linda Jacobs Altman is the author of Amelia's Road, published by Lee & Low, and named a "Choices" selection by the Cooperative Children's Book Center. Altman, who lives in Clearlake, California, frequently writes for the educational market.

Larry Johnson has illustrated several children's books, including Knoxville, Tennessee by Nikki Giovanni, When Joe Louis Won the Title, and Lee & Low's The Secret to Freedom, praised by School Library Journal for its "expressive acrylic paintings ... rich in color and emotion." He also serves as a Youth Minister at a Baptist church and is a cohost of a weekend sports radio show. Johnson and his wife live in Stoughton, Massachusetts. Visit him online at larryjohnsonart.com.