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The Ernestine & Amanda Series is about two girls growing up in 1950’s America. In each book, each girl tells her own story in alternating chapters.
It is clear from the beginning that Ernestine and Amanda do not like each other. However, because of one thing or another they often find themselves thrown together. For example, they take piano lessons at the same time from Miss Elder and share a close friendship with Alicia Raymond. Perhaps the worst situation of their lives is knowing that Ernestine’s older brother, Marcus, and Amanda’s older sister, Madelyn, are high-school sweethearts.
Can and will these two ever become friends? Meanwhile what lessons about growing up and being a friend will they learn along the way?
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Ernestine & Amanda
It is 1955 in this first book of the series and Ernestine and Amanda are ten. The non-friendship of the two is increased by the preparations for an upcoming piano competition. Each girl also fights her own personal battle—Ernestine, a weight problem, and Amanda, parents with a marriage in serious trouble.
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Ernestine & Amanda: Summer Camp Ready or Not!
Both girls celebrate their eleventh birthdays and go away to camp for the first time. Ernestine goes to Hilltop—a woodsy camp near their hometown of Carey that has served black campers for over fifty years. Amanda travels to a camp in Pennsylvania where she will be interacting with white kids for the first time. While Amanda continues to struggle with the fact that her parents are getting a divorce, Ernestine learns that her father has lost his job.
 Listen to an excerpt from Ernestine & Amanda: Summer Camp Ready or Not!
Amanda’s father, who has moved out of their home, has invited his two daughters to lunch. Angry and upset, Amanda shares what she’s writing to her father to keep from having to go. |
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Ernestine & Amanda: Members of the C.L.U.B.
For the first time, both girls attend the same school—W. E. B. Du Bois Elementary. Both are in sixth grade. While Ernestine enters a friendship with another newcomer to Du Bois, the rather amazing Wilhelmina, Amanda starts an “exclusive club” that does not invite Ernestine to be a member.
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Ernestine & Amanda: Mysteries on Monroe Street
Both girls, now 12, are involved in dance classes, Ernestine as the practice pianist, and Amanda as one of the gifted dancers. Ernestine’s growing-up struggles are shown in letters to her best friend, Clovis, who has moved to Georgia. Amanda’s are revealed in her diary. It becomes clear that the Brown v. Board of Education decision will blow winds of change across both the black and white communities of Carey.
Listen to an excerpt from Ernestine & Amanda: Mysteries on Monroe Street.
After sharing the melody of the spiritual the girls in the class are to dance to, Ernestine describes what happens as she watches Amanda do her interpretation of the music. |
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 Find out more about important African-American historical figures and events included in the "Ernestine & Amanda Scrapbooks." These special collections are a part of each book in the series.
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