Milly and the Macy's Parade

Title: Milly and the Macy’s Parade

Author: Shana Corey

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary: 1924 was Milly’s first year in America, and everyone in New York City was getting ready for the holidays. Milly’s papa worked in Macy’s, and Mr. Macy watched everything from his private penthouse office. Milly visited Macy’s every day and always had so much fun. Macy’s was gorgeous and magic, Milly thought. Milly said that some people just seemed to look into Macy’s and feel homesick, but she knew that feeling, because her family originally came from Poland and they had been homesick too, Her mama had missed Polish foods, papa missed Polish words and she missed everything about Poland. After many months, Milly’s family got used to America. Mama found places to buy Polish foods, papa was learning new American words and Milly was pretending to be a princess and Macy’s. One day at Macy’s, papa said he missed the holidays back “home,” and his friend, Herman, agreed. Milly had an idea: She went up to Mr. Macy’s office, but heard him and his assistant talking about firing the men because they were acting sad. Milly explained the situation to Mr. Macy and her plan was to bring a little bit of everyone’s home to America. The next day, there was a sign posted at Macy’s about a parade that was just like an old countries parade. That day, Milly and pap took the train to Harlem where everyone was meeting, as her mother stayed to watch from the side-walk. When they got there, the streets were filled with people and everyone was dressed up and ready to march. At once, everyone began marching down the street. Papa and his friends sang and strolled just like they did in the old country. In the middle of the parade, Milly rode an elephant that was borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. Papa and his friends enjoyed the celebration. Everyone thought that the parade was a huge success. Milly suggested that they do this parade every year, and Mr. Macy agreed. The parade gave many different people something to celebrate together.

Characters: Mr. Macy, Millie, mama, papa, papa’s friends

Plot: celebrate a holiday together from different countries

Theme: diversity, holidays

Setting: New York City

Opinion: I enjoyed reading this book, because it showed how everyone can come together to celebrate one thing. It was interesting to read and I think it would definitely be helpful to read in a classroom.