Grandma's Purple Flowers (PB) (2008)

Pick of the List, American Bookseller's Association

An African American girl who cherishes her frequent visits to her favorite Grandma finds a way to remember her grandmother with hope and joy after she passes away.

Grandma's house has always been the narrator's favorite place. On her way to visit Grandma, she plucks daisies and sunflowers, and best of all, purple flowers-Grandma's favorites. Whenever Grandma sees the purple flowers, her smile grows wide-like the Mississippi River.

Grandma passes away, and all winter long, the young girl is sad, missing her grandmother terribly. When spring finally arrives, and flowers begin to shoot up from the ground, the girl discovers her own special way to accept her grandmother's death and keep Grandma with her always.

In this moving story, author/illustrator Adjoa J. Burrowes deals sensitively with the difficult experience of death and tells a story that celebrates the triumph of hope and spirit during a difficult time.