How Do You Spell Memorable?
Reviewed by Dr. Jerry Flack
Carole Boston Weatherford has won multiple honors for her picture book biographies of Harriet Tubman, Gordon Parks, Leontyne Price, Billie Holiday, Michelle and Barack Obama, and Oprah Winfrey. In this illustrious picture book biography her subject is not historically or currently famous nor is she an adult. The heroine is MacNolia Cox, an eighth grader in the Akron, Ohio Public Schools in 1936.
Academic competitions are part of the lifeblood of many programs for gifted students and perhaps the most famous such event is the Scripps National Spelling Bee. How Do You Spell Unfair? is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book tribute to a brave young girl who was the first African American finalist in the National Spelling Bee. In addition to her narrative, Weatherford provides extensive information about the history of participation of Black students in what is the oldest academic competition in the United States. Her informative Forward reveals that the 1908 National Education Association Spelling Bee was the first time Black and white students competed in the same competition. Moreover, it sets the stage for the courageous story of MacNolia Cox. Following the key story, an even more comprehensive Epilogue recounts the history of students of African descent from 1936 to the present day in the National Spelling Bee competition.
MacNolia Cox was in many ways a stereotypical gifted child. Her greatest pleasure was reading the dictionary. She loved to read, study, and spell. In April, 1936, MacNolia, an eighth grader, competed with 50 of the very best spellers in Akron, Ohio. More than 3,000 people attended the event sponsored by city newspaper, the Beacon Journal. At the end of the evening, MacNolia stood alone and victorious at center stage. She was the first Black student to ever win the annual contest. Her prize was a trip to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.
Macnolia’s win was a triumph. She was honored by some of Akron’s most famous athletes such as boxer Joe Louis and track star Jesse Owens. Entertainers Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Fats Waller also hailed her accomplishment. MacNolia did not take her victory lightly. She received new dictionaries and studied them at least three school periods every day. She memorized 100,000 words. Bands played and crowds cheered at Akron’s Union Station to see MacNolia and her mother depart for their trip to the nation’s Capitol.
Sadly, when the passenger train reached the border of Maryland, the state’s ugly segregation laws took over. Mother and daughter were forced to move to the Blacks-only railroad car. Once in Washington, DC, they could not lodge in a segregated hotel. They had to stay in the home of a Black doctor. They were humiliated at every turn. White spellers were seated center stage when the National Spelling Bee was convened. MacNolia and another African American student were separated from the white spelling champions and were required to sit at a card table a far distance from center stage. Despite such harassment, MacNolia reached the final five finalists. The judges, mostly from segregated Southern states, gave MacNolia the word nemesis that was not on the official list all contestants had been given to prepare for the competition. The biased technique worked. Despite protests, MacNolia was eliminated from having any opportunity to win the Spelling Bee.
Despite the flagrant elimination, MacNolia enjoyed the great monuments and sites of the nation’s Capital. She also received a triumphant celebration upon her return to Akron. Weatherford notes that MacNolia represented the truth that African American students could succeed with white youths on an even playing field.
Unfortunately, this exceptionally gifted young woman could not afford to attend college. She spent her entire adult life as a maid.
The remainder of the author’s highly informative Epilogue chronicles the slow pace across many decades of racial bias in local, state, and national spelling bees. In 1998, Jody-Anne Maxwell, a contestant from Jamaica, became the first person of African descent to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Finally, incredibly, just two year ago, in 2021, fourteen-year-old Zaila Avant-garde became the first African American student to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Carol Boston Weatherford speaks directly to her readers. She skillfully moves the narrative forward through the use of well-placed questions (and answers) on virtually every colorful spread. “Can you spell dedication? D-E-D-I-C-A-T-I-O-N” is her first question and answer. Additional questions ask readers to spell such words as discrimination and racism. On one occasion, Weatherford changes her question to “Can you pronounce such words as abstemious, apoplexy, and pretentious?” to emphasize the dedication and hard work of MacNolia’s preparation to be a national competitor.
Frank Morrison’s splendid illustrations are rendered with oil and spray paint. His use of color is wonderful. He also perfectly captures period images from the 1930s. The up-close portraits of MacNolia beautifully complement the narration. There is a visual intimacy that brings the young heroine’s story to reality for readers.
Working in superb collaboration, Weatherford and Morrison have created a memorable picture book biography that will be appreciated and long remembered by gifted readers. How Do You Spell UNFAIR? is a book that should be in every home, school, and public library.
Home and School Activities
Reader Enhancement. Carole Boston Weatherford provides an ample array of online references in her Select Bibliography. One example is an article titled, “A Brief History of Spelling Bees in America,” to be discovered at the Ford’s Theatre website. Encourage readers of all ages to choose at least one of these extra resources to further their knowledgebase about academic competitions and racism. They can then employ their creativity to share their new knowledge.
Research Dictionary History and Vocabulary. Dictionaries date as far back in time as 2300 BCE in Sumerian times. They are lexicons of one or more languages and include spellings, definitions, pronunciations, usages, and etymologies. Entries are generally arranged alphabetically. There are standard or general dictionaries and specialized dictionaries for specific fields, such as law. There are also bilingual, synonym (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. Suggest to gifted readers, like MacNolia Cox who loved to read dictionaries as a child, that they research the history of dictionaries and create a colorful timeline of their history. Youthful researchers will discover the dedication of language specialists such as Noah Webster who began the creation of An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1807. It took Webster 27 years to complete his project.
Understanding a Word. Words, words, words! They are everywhere. Spelling Bee contestants memorize thousands of words, especially as they are correctly pronounced and spelled. One of the key characteristics of precocious children is the great expanse of their vocabularies. That is fine. People can never learn enough new words. However, gifted readers should also pause long enough in their insatiable acquisition of words to be better able to appreciate the richness and beauty of language. They should learn to experience and savor language in the same way that an art student might view a painting by Renoir, or a music student might listen intensely to a Bach fugue. Understanding a word is a great exploration. By coming to know one word intimately and understanding its multiple levels of meaning, students will be able to gain a greater appreciation for the way all words are utilized. Their investigations become lessons in both the denotative and connotative meanings of words.
First, students choose one word, typically an abstract noun, that they would like to examine. Abstract nouns such as love, patriotism, honor, hope, joy, faith, and beauty work especially well for this communications project. For very young children, concrete nouns such as father, grandmother, and friend may work best.
Young researchers then thoroughly study their chosen word and create journals in which they share such things as their own initial definition of the word; locate or create verbal and visuals images in which their word is the central theme; share personal experiences related to the word; and learn its definition and etymology. All of their work is then compiled in a portfolio made complete with original illustrations. A collage representative of a chosen word may serve as a portfolio cover. A template for this creative word study follows:
Choose one word (e.g., honor). Write a personal definition that represents understanding of the meaning of the word.
Find or create original pictures or drawings reflective of the word.
Relate a personal life experience related to the word.
Find or write a story, essay, or poem about the word.
Ask at least five other people to define the word. Record their responses.
Invent a brand new word that could be a synonym.
Locate and copy a dictionary definition of the word. Note its origin or etymology.
Compile and display all work.
Samuel Clemens (a.k.a., Mark Twain) made the case for the critical importance of using words precisely when he wrote, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightening and the lightening bug.”
Weatherford, Carole Boston. How Do You Spell Unfair? MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee. Illus. by Frank Morrison. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2023.
