Once upon a time in the American Jim Crow South, a little Jewish girl was faced with a moral dilemma.

In a minute, I will tell you how Queen Esther and the ancient Purim story gave Essie Rose the courage to do the right thing. But first, let’s hear more about Essie Rose’s problem.  

Meet Essie Rose Ginsberg

Essie Rose Ginsberg, age 10, was the only Jewish girl in the mostly White, mostly Baptist town of Tipton, Mississippi. She shared her old-soul thoughts and things she “DOES NOT UNDERSTAND” in the journal she kept during the hot Southern summer of 1953.

Tipton’s leading men had sponsored a children’s writing contest celebrating Tipton’s Five Best Heroes. Essie Rose Ginsberg was an honest-to-goodness writer, and an earnest one at that. And she just knew that Pearlie May Gibbs, the family’s housekeeper and Essie’s best and only friend, should be nominated as a town hero. 

Only trouble was, Pearlie May Gibbs wasn’t a Caucasian. And the town fathers were not the kind of men to allow someone like Pearlie May to be included among Tipton’s Best.

But Essie Rose knew better. She knew that Pearlie May was a true hero – the wisest, kindest, most sensible and God-fearing person she knew. And in case we needed any proof, Essie Rose wrote this list for us:

PEARLIE MAY GIBBS’ HALF DOZEN WORDS OF WISDOM, As Told to Her by Her Mama, as Told to Her by HER Mama:

1. Don’t Fret
2. Be Kind
3. Practice Patience
4. Don’t Let Wrongs Fester
5. Mind Your Mouth
6. Shore Up Your Courage to Do the Right Thing

So Essie Rose wrote her essay nominating Pearlie May Gibbs as a town hero, dropped it in the mailbox, and waited. 

And waited.

And waited.

Troublesome Worries

Meanwhile, other worries began seeping into Essie Rose’s world. 

First, her friend Moses Brownridge, who attended the same church as Pearlie May, assured Essie Rose that the minute the committee found out that Pearlie May wasn’t a Caucasian, “your writing is going to be crumpled up and thrown smack in the nearest garbage can.” What if Moses was right?

Next problem: Donna Sue and Mary Jo, the mean girls who tormented her constantly. Essie knew she should do more than just stick her tongue out at them. Would she ever shore up the courage to say what needed to be said?

And scariest of all, dark clouds were gathering around Daddy’s five and dime store on the “wrong” side of the tracks. Someone had scribbled JEW STORE on the windows. There was talk of boycotts. And something horrible called the Klu Klux Klan was threatening trouble for Daddy’s customers. Would the Ginsbergs have to move back up North?

So much to fret about! In Essie Rose’s own words, “I’d lost all my nerve.” But how could she ever get her courage back?

Queen Esther to the Rescue

Let’s listen in as Essie Rose tells her story:

Since it was Shabbos, I wondered if maybe one of Daddy’s Friday Night Bible Stories could do the trick. But which one? I’d heard the Moses story, the Jonah and the Whale story, and the Noah and the Ark story so many times I had them memorized. All these stories had heroes, but what I needed tonight was a story about a heroine. That’s when Esther and her story of bravery and courage came to mind, except Daddy only told that one on Purim.

I needed to hear Daddy tell me again how Esther was willing to go before the king and admit she was Jewish in order to save her people – knowing she might be killed. I needed Daddy to tell me again how brave it was of her to leave her home and family. Most of all, I needed him to tell me how Esther was able to keep up her courage. 

I suppose thinking about how Esther shored up her courage to go before a king gave me enough courage to go before Daddy.

“Daddy,” I said, after we’d finished saying all our Blessings, “just this once, may I please choose the Friday Night Bible Story? I know it’s not Purim, but I really want to hear the Esther story again.”

I was certain he’d say, “No, Essie Rose. It’s not the proper time.”

Instead, to my surprise, Daddy agreed. He told me the whole story of Queen Esther, from the beginning to the end when evil Haman gets what he deserves.”

And indeed, Queen Esther’s example was just what Essie Rose needed to regain her own courage to stand on her principles and stare down the unjust judges, the mean girls, and her own fears about the future.

Essie Rose’s Message to Us All

In a world where finding and speaking truth is getting harder by the day, may we all join Essie Rose in finding courage in Queen Esther’s example.

From the Book of Esther, chapter 4, verses 13-16:

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews…And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Then Esther replied, “I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

About the Book

Essie Rose’s Revelation Summer is a middle grade novel inspired by Deanie Yasner’s true-to-life childhood experiences in the Jim Crow South. A book written for such a time as this, Deanie’s coming-of-age novel is a moving, multi-layered, and meticulously researched story of loneliness and loyalty, bullying and friendship, loss and courage.