"Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry" By: Bebe Moore Campbell

Grade Level: 5th Grade and above
Rank: 3/5
Illustrations By: E.B. Lewis

When I first picked out "Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry" I wasn't sure what to expect. This story is about a young African American girl who is forced to become independent at a young age due to her mother's mental illness. With the support of her friends and her grandma she is able to "be a big girl". I did not like the overall concept of this book; it suggested that Annie needed to continue to take care of herself even when her mother was not in an appropriate mental state to care for her. I also disliked that while Annie's grandma knew there were serious problems at home her only instruction was to call her when she felt scared. I think that this implies to young students that if they are in a situation like this their only option is tolerance. I did not like that in addition to Annie's grandma, her neighbors were also aware of her mother's mental illness and failed to do anything about it even when they were directly exposed to her violent mood swings. However, this book does represent multicultural awareness since Annie's two best friends are both Caucasian girls. The three of them are very supportive of one another regardless of the face that they are of different races. I would only use this book in an upper elementary classroom in order to demonstrate the hardships of mental illness, and have my students discuss how Annie can escape this potentially harmful situation and environment. I would not use this book in a lower elementary classroom because I would not want students who are more impressionable to get the implication that mental illness is only present in African American families.