As Rita Williams-Garcia, in her newest book Jumped, introduces three characters who tell their story from three points of view, I got the strange feeling that I had taught each of them. Leticia has to take a zero period class to make up for failing a math grade – not her fault of course and somebody should have found the missing points which had to be in there somewhere. Trina, who is tiny and cute, transferred in to the school for the art program and pushes the dress code envelope as far as it will go. She rather enjoys her biracial status and instead of answering questions about her ethnicity by saying she doesn’t know, says, "I’m 100% Trina.” Athletic Dominique stalks Mr. Hershheiser whom she holds responsible for being benched from the basketball team for the seventy she got from him when the coach requires seventy-five.
It turns out, I felt I had taught with some of the teachers as well. Mr. Hershheiser shuns conflict with students by avoiding them, retreating to shut them out. Ineffectual Assistant Principal Shelton’s attempt to get Trina to conform to the dress code by having her mother bring an embarrassing oversized sweater one day seemed to be only a challenge for her to try something new the next. My favorite, and maybe the most familiar, is Mr. Sebastian who uses his own money to be sure the art students have adequate supplies.
Into this mix of characters, Trina makes the mistake of taking her happy self into Dominique’s angry space. Dominique makes plans to waylay her on the way out of school at two forty-five. Leticia hears and knows the plan and understands how dangerous this will be for Trina. Throughout the day she calls her friend Bea in the secret places she knows she can hide her cell phone use to keep Bea informed of the progress of the “girl fight” and wrestles with whether to tell an authority or “mind her own business.” Bea serves as a conscience trying to get her to intervene.
Our de Grummond Book Group read this book in preparation for the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival since Rita Williams-Garcia will be receiving the USM Medallion for her contribution to children’s literature. If you had listened in on the lively discussion, you might have thought we were talking about real people – the best sign I know of an excellent book by an excellent writer.