Hold Fast to Dreams
Author: Andrea Davis Pinkney
Setting: contemporary United States
Protagonist's culture/ethnicity: African American
Twelve-year-old Deirdre (Dee) Willis faces many new challenges when she and her family relocate from Baltimore to an all-white suburb in Connecticut. Leaving behind her friends and familiar surroundings, Dee must adjust to life in a new school and a new neighborhood. For the first time she finds herself an outsider and is made painfully aware that her dark skin sets her apart from the other kids at school.
Dee's sense of alienation is increased by her inability to play lacrosse, the most popular sport at Wexford Middle School. A champion at double-dutch jump rope in her old neighborhood, she is homesick for the friends and activities that she enjoyed in Baltimore. Her most painful discovery is made when she finds out that she is not the only one experiencing difficulty as the result of her family's move: her father and younger sister also confront prejudice and must struggle to find ways to improve their situations.
Dee finds the determination to succeed in Wexford in part by following her father's example of strength and integrity. Refusing to allow himself to be intimidated by a prejudiced security guard, Dee's father, an executive, asserts his right to respect from his co-workers and retains his confidence in his abilities. A talented photographer, Dee enters her work in the prestigious Wexford talent contest and refuses to allow herself to be pushed to the sidelines. After receiving second prize, Dee's confidence in herself is restored, and the Willis family's story of adjustment ends on a positive note.