Neeny Coming, Neeny Going by Karen English won the Coretta Scott King Award. An introduction "To the Reader" says that the setting for this story is Daufuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina. It's was home to a culture "that blended American and West African customs. The language, too, was a blend of African and English". This is a story about change for this island.
Neeny is a cousin who moved off island to live with her mother. Her mother "works for a high-class family in Charleston" and Neeny has shed her island ways and adopted a more sophisticated outlook on life. Several pages begin the story with the main character super excited that her cousin Neeny is visiting. But the exceitement fades as Neeny shows no interest in participating in island activities. The text is a dialect of English I'm not familiar with. It adds to the overal atmosphere of being on island. At the end of the story, "Neeny come like a visitor who didn't want to visit..."
Paintings by Synthia Saint James add color to the story. I'm wondering if her style, with its lack of detail, complements the fading island culture.
