MAIN STREET: A COMMUNITY STORY ABOUT REDLINING, by Britt Hawthorne, Tiffany Jewell, David Wilkerson, Kokila, Jan. 27, 2026, Hardcover, $18.99 (ages 7-10)
A girl learns how a history of racism and community action has affected her neighborhood in Main Street: A Community Story About Redlining by Britt Hawthorne, Tiffany Jewell and David Wilkerson.
Olivia can’t wait to invite her friends to the 62nd annual Main Street Block Party. But when she does, Alison says that Main Street isn’t safe. Olivia’s eyes fill with tears, and she begins to wish that she didn’t live on Main Street at all.
Then, Olivia learns what happened when her neighbor Ms. Effie was about her age: Ms. Effie’s family was also told that Main Street wasn’t good enough. The bank wouldn’t give them a loan to buy their house based on where it fell on a color-coded map: Mostly Black people lived near Main Street, so the neighborhood was colored red on the map. To fight back against this practice called redlining, Ms. Effie’s family became friends with their neighbors and got organized. —Synopsis provided by Kokila
Main Street: A Community Story About Redlining is a thoughtful look at community and how it is affected by racial and economic segregation.
Authors Britt Hawthorne and Tiffany Jewell, along with illustrator David Wilkerson take a complex concept like redlining (a government-backed policy that systematically denied mortgages and financial services to residents of predominantly Black and minority neighborhoods) and make it easy for young readers to understand.
Hawthorne and Jewell’s text is clear and inviting. And their story is compelling. Wilkerson’s bright illustrations bring further clarity to the story.
Strong backmatter includes an author’s note about the history of redlining and ways kids and their families can care for their own neighborhoods.
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