''Sad-faced Boy'' is a 1937 children's novel by

Arna Wendell Bontemps Arna Wendell Bontemps ( ) (October 13, 1902 – June 4, 1973) was an American poet, novelist and librarian, and a noted member of the Harlem Renaissance. Early life Bontemps was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, into a Louisiana Creole family. His ...

and illustrated by

Virginia Lee Burton Virginia Lee Burton (August 30, 1909 – October 15, 1968), also known by her married name Virginia Demetrios, was an American illustrator and children's book author. She wrote and illustrated seven children's books, including ''Mike Mulligan and ...

. It tells the adventures of three rural boys Slumber, his big brother Rags, and Willie Dozier who travel alone from Alabama to visit Harlem in New York. Bontemps's book, although aimed at children, carried a heavy social warning, that life in the industrial north would still carry the challenges of oppression and prejudice of the South.African American Review - Page 28 1998 And apparently Bontemps identified himself as the "Sad-Faced Author," the title of another Horn Book magazine article ... Instead he traced the origin of his Sad-Faced Boy characters (Slumber, Rags, and Willie) to J. P. Morgan and two of his

References

{{reflist 1937 American novels Children's books set in Harlem American children's novels 1937 children's books African-American novels Children's books set in Alabama