Tar Beach
by Faith Ringgold, Illustrated by Faith Ringgold

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold broke new ground because the book was adapted from the textile/quilt. She incorporated African American/Native American building history and made the city seem magical with Black children flying over landmarks.—Zetta Elliott, PhD

I will always remember
when the stars fell down around me
and lifted me up above
the George Washington Bridge.

Cassie Louise Lightfoot, eight years old in 1939, has a dream: to be free to go wherever she wants for the rest of her life. One night, up on “tar beach” —the rooftop of her family’s Harlem apartment building—her dream comes true. The stars lift her up, and she flies over the city. She claims the buildings as her own—even the union building, so her father won’t have to worry anymore about not being allowed to join just because his father was not a member. As Cassie learns, anyone can fly. “All you need is somewhere to go you can’t get to any other way. The next thing you know, you‘re flying above the stars.”

This magical story resonates with a universal wish. Originally written by Faith Ringgold for her story quilt of the same name, Tar Beach is a seamless weaving of fiction, autobiography, and African-American history and literature. Originally publishing in 1991 by Crown Publishers, New York.