"Me and Uncle Romie"
by Claire Hartfield

Student Edition
Unit 5, pp. 248–269

Realistic fiction is made-up, but it could actually happen. What events in this Snapshot seem real? For one thing, it is based on the life of collage artist Romare Bearden.

James was going to spend the summer in New York City with Uncle Romie and Aunt Nanette. Mama was having twins and needed to rest in their home in North Carolina. Uncle Romie was an artist, and they didn't have any kids. James thought his picture looked fierce. James wasn't sure he would like staying with his uncle. Besides, his birthday was in the summer. Mama and Daddy always made his birthday special with gifts and a lemon cake. It looked like his summer and his birthday were going to be ruined.
Daddy took him to the train. On the long ride, James ate his packed lunch and dinner, looked out the windows, and slept. When he woke up, he was at New York's Penn Station. Aunt Nanette called his name. He went with her on the subway. James could not believe New York City. There were no separate houses as in North Carolina, just big buildings and stores of all kinds, all crowded together. His uncle and aunt's apartment was five flights up. One room in the apartment was Uncle Romie's studio. This is where he worked. He had a big art show coming, Aunt Nanette told James, so he was very busy.
Aunt Nanette took James all over New York. They saw the Statue of Liberty one day, rode to the top of the Empire State Building another day, and ate hot dogs in Central Park another day. But James liked Harlem best of all. It was where Uncle Romie grew up, and it was filled with people. Some sat on their stoops greeting neighbors. Harlem reminded James of being back home. He even got to play stickball with some kids he met. They all had a barbecue on a roof high above the street. Then he and Aunt Nanette sat listening to street musicians play jazz. James didn't see much of Uncle Romie. He was always in his art studio or planning for his show.
Finally, it was time for James's birthday. He knew Aunt Nanette had made big plans, but she was suddenly called away for a funeral. He would spend his birthday with Uncle Romie instead. James was not happy.
But on his birthday, Uncle Romie left his studio door open. It was a wonderful place, filled with paints and bits and pieces of pictures, cloth, and newspapers. Uncle Romie showed James his collages. In them he saw the Harlem he had grown to love. And in one he saw North Carolina. Uncle Romie had visited it by train every year when he was a boy. He and James had a lot to talk about.
Uncle Romie made them a feast for breakfast, with grits and bacon, biscuits and eggs. Then he took James to a baseball game. Uncle Romie had been a pitcher in college, so he knew a lot about the game. When they got home, Aunt Nanette was back. She had made James the special lemon cake she had promised. It was a great birthday!
Uncle Romie's art show was a big success. James was there. He listened to people recall their own memories as they looked at the collages. That night Daddy called to say James had a new baby brother and sister. They missed him a lot, he said. So Aunt Nanette and Uncle Romie took James to the train station to return home. Uncle Romie gave him a collage showing his New York summer.
When it was time for Uncle Romie's birthday that fall, James wanted to do something special for him. So he went on a treasure hunt for North Carolina things like flowers and feathers and even a train schedule. James pasted them all on a big piece of cardboard to make a collage. On it, he wrote "Happy Birthday, Uncle Romie."

From Me and Uncle Romie: A Story Inspired by the Life and Art of Romare Bearden by Claire Hartfield, copyright © 2002 by Claire Hartfield, text. Used by permission of Dial Books for Young Readers, A Division of Penguin Young Readers Group, A Member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 345 Hudson Street New York, NY 10014. All rights reserved.

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