The Harlem Charade

by Natasha Tarpley

  “I think this is her. I think this is Henriette,” Elvin whispered. The woman gazed back at them from the canvas, her brown eyes gleaming like polished glass.

  “She looks sad,” Alex commented, studying her face.

  “No.” Jin leaned in closer. “I think she’s actually smiling.”

  In the few seconds that they’d been standing there, the edges of the woman’s mouth seemed to curl into a mysterious smile.

  “Yeah, I think you’re right. She’s smiling at us,” Alex agreed. “I think she’s happy that her paintings have finally found a home.”

  A few minutes later, people started to trickle into the gallery. Elvin spotted his grandfather and rushed over to meet him. Elvin’s mother walked alongside Jacob, holding his arm for support. She was still recovering, but a few weeks earlier, the doctors in California had declared her stable enough to travel, and just that morning she’d told Elvin some big news. He waved his friends over.

  “I want to introduce you guys to my mom,” Elvin said proudly. “She’s decided to move her treatments to Harlem Hospital. Which means I’m staying. We are officially New Yorkers!”

  “Awesome, dude!” Rad reached out for a fist bump. “Now you can finally teach me how to do that noseslide move you’ve been working on.”

  Just then they heard a yelp. “Was that a dog?” Alex asked, looking around.

  Rose nodded and squealed, then ran to meet Isabel, who had just come into the gallery. In her arms, she carried Noodles, Rose’s beloved pug, who was all dressed up for the occasion in a dapper three-piece gray suit and doggy top hat, with space cut out for his ears.

  “Does this mean … ?” Alex started.

  Rose and Jin smiled at each other and nodded. “After we met Isabel, Jin and I thought that she would be the perfect new owner for Noodles,” Rose explained. “Isabel agreed and adopted him! I not only get to see him whenever I want, but Isabel has also become my fashion mentor. We designed the outfit Noodles is wearing together,” Rose gushed.

  “Sounds perfect. I’m happy Noodles found a good home, and I mean that.” Alex smiled.

  “May I have your attention please?” Verta Mae stood at the front of the room with a microphone. Once the crowd had quieted down, she welcomed everyone and told them about the significance of the gallery and Henriette’s paintings. She even invited Elvin’s grandfather and Isabel up to talk about the history of the Invisible 7.

  At the end of the presentation, she thanked Alex’s parents and then turned to Elvin, Jin, Alex, Rose, and Rad. “We would not be standing here in this beautiful new space were it not for the bravery and commitment of these young people,” Verta Mae said, and introduced each of them. The room practically shook with applause and cheers. Verta Mae raised her hands for quiet.

  “We are dedicating this space to all of them,” she said. Then she held up a gold-plated plaque on which each of their names was engraved. “We are also including this statement, authored by Jin Yi and Alex Roebuck, as part of the permanent exhibit of Henriette’s paintings.”

  Jin and Alex’s jaws dropped as Verta Mae unveiled a large white canvas, on which an excerpt from their history project was printed. When Verta Mae found out that they had chosen to research and write about Harlem World and the Invisible 7, she had asked to read their paper. They had no idea that she planned to include it in an actual art exhibition.

  “Girls, please come up and share this with our audience. I think we’d all like to hear this read in your own voices,” Verta Mae urged.

  Nervously, Alex and Jin walked to the front of the room and took turns reading aloud the concluding statement of their project, which they had written together.

  “Art is a mirror that reflects who we are, and who we hope to be. It can expose evil, greed, and war, but it can also illuminate love, joy, and unity.

  Art can reveal the mistakes of the past and also help us to discover a path to forgiveness and healing.

  For many years, Harlem artists like Henriette Drummond and the members of the Invisible 7 have used art to tell the stories that they felt were important to tell.

  Their art asks the questions ‘Who are you? How do you want to see yourself reflected?’

  Art gives us the choice, and with it, a way to tell our own stories and to shape our own futures.”

  Alex and Jin were stunned by the thundering applause that followed. They shuffled back toward their families, and soon the celebratory gala was in full swing.

  As Jin glanced around the room at her friends and neighbors, she saw the true power of art on full display. Mr. and Mrs. Roebuck stood with Harabeoji in front of a particularly incredible painting that showed neighborhood commerce at work. Elvin and Rad were huddled deep in conversation with Elvin’s grandfather. Rose was talking to Verta Mae Sneed, of all people. It must have been about something fashion-related, because she had whipped out her tape measure and was measuring Verta Mae’s arms and shoulders. And Alex and Elvin’s mother were laughing uproariously, at what Jin could only imagine. The scene reminded Jin of another of Henriette’s paintings, the mural that depicted a group of neighbors gathered together and enjoying one another on a block in Harlem.

  Then she noticed her grandmother, standing off by herself, in front of Henriette’s self-portrait. As Jin headed toward her, she saw Halmoni dab at her eyes with a tissue—she was crying!

  “Halmoni! Are you okay?”

  Halmoni reached for Jin and pulled her into a hug. “I’m just happy.” She beamed. “And so proud of you, Jinnie. You and your friends, you bring our neighborhood together again. You stand up for Harlem. You tough, like me.”

  Jin felt her own tears welling up at that moment. She’d always admired her grandmother’s strength—even if it meant Halmoni could be harsh at times. And it meant a lot for Halmoni to say that Jin was tough like her. It was like she was seeing Halmoni in a whole new way, shifting the perspective as Elvin’s mother said. Jin usually focused on her grandmother’s strictness and fussiness, but she realized now, her grandmother had a softness and kindness that had also been there all along. Halmoni had given Jin the space to go on this adventure with Elvin and Alex, while still making her feel safe and protected.

  Art really can bring people together. Jin smiled to herself and leaned into her grandmother’s warm embrace.

  In The Harlem Charade, characters attempt to unravel the truth about the past, while asking some very important questions about the future like, Who gets to decide what is important about a community? How can people embrace the future without completely losing the past? Who gets to tell our stories?

  This book takes place in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City, well known as a mecca of African American arts, culture, and history. The people and events as described in the story are fictional, but it is a fact that the Harlem community has experienced tremendous growth and change. This change has brought new restaurants, apartment and entertainment complexes, stores, and residents to the area, but it has also resulted in the disappearance of local small businesses and other sites, many of which had historical significance to the neighborhood.

  Nearly fifty years ago, a group of Harlem residents and artists were grappling with many of these same issues of change and representation. In 1969, the Metropolitan Museum of Art mounted an exhibit entitled, Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900–1968, which you will find referenced in this book. Coming on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, the exhibit sought to explore the culture and history of Harlem’s predominantly black community.

  Though on the surface, Harlem on My Mind may have seemed like a good idea, the exhibit actually sparked intense controversy, debate, and division among artists and curators of the show. Harlem artists, whose work at that time was already underrepresented in galleries and museums in New York and around the country, were infuriated by the lack of input that actual Harlem residents had in the planning of Harlem on My Mind. They also resented the Met’s decision to include only photography in th
e exhibit—which excluded painters and artists working in other mediums.

  Artists, like the fictional characters of Henriette Drummond and the Invisible 7 in this story, launched heated protests against the show, the most serious of which resulted in the vandalism of several paintings in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection. These artists were fighting not just for the right to exhibit their work but also for the right to represent themselves and their community: to tell their stories.

  Fortunately, this story has a somewhat happy ending. As a result of Harlem artists protesting and raising questions in the 1960s, many museums and galleries began to increase efforts to exhibit and collect art by a more diverse array of artists. In addition, new institutions, like the Studio Museum in Harlem, were founded and continue today to be devoted to the exhibition and development of work by artists of color.

  Still, there is work to be done. The writer Toni Morrison said, “Writers are like [water]: remembering where we were … the light that was there and the route back to our original place. It is emotional memory—what the nerves and the skin remember as well as how it appeared. And a rush of imagination is our ‘flooding.’ ”

  I believe she’s saying that remembering the past is how we see who we really are. It is our job as writers, readers, students, teachers, and community members, to seek out and excavate memories of the past, which still live buried beneath all the shiny newness, then weave them into our visions for the future. It is our job to remember, to tell our truths and our stories.

  All events and characters in this book are fictional. However, I did use some real events and locations in the story. I took artistic license with some of the locations in the book, but I do hope that you will visit these places, read more about these events, and explore them on your own.

  1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) is one of the world’s most highly regarded art museums. It is located on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

  2. The exhibition, Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900–1968 was shown at the Met in 1969. Ten paintings in the museum’s collection were vandalized in protest of the Harlem on My Mind exhibit, though authorities never found the person(s) who did it.

  3. The Studio Museum in Harlem is an actual museum, located on historic 125th Street. It was one of the institutions founded as a result of the dialogue and debate about art and representation that was sparked by the Harlem on My Mind exhibit.

  4. Harlem Hospital (Harlem Hospital Center) is an actual hospital in Harlem, located on 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, also known as Lenox Avenue. It is home to several historically significant murals painted by artists Vertis Hayes and Georgette Seabrook, among others, during the 1930s as part of the Federal Works Progress Administration program. These murals, and the real controversy that surrounded them, were the inspiration for the murals in this story. You can see the original restored murals on display in the Mural Pavilion at the Harlem Hospital Center, and read more about them here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/arts/design/murals-at-harlem-hospital-get-a-new-life.html?_r0.

  5. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library that is home to one of the country’s most significant collections of materials about the lives and experiences of people of African descent. It is also located on the corner of 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem and is part of the New York Public Library system.

  6. The Magic Skillet is a fictional establishment, based on the real Harlem restaurant, Pan-Pan. Pan-Pan was located on the corner of 135th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard, across the street from the Schomburg Center, but was destroyed in a fire in 2004.

  7. As of this writing, there is a rare Victorian carriage house at 122nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Built as a private carriage house in the nineteenth century, this building is significant because there are few such structures still existing in Harlem. Residents are attempting to landmark this property in order to preserve it.

  Thank you to my superstar editor, Jenne Abramowitz, for believing in this project. Your keen insights and questions helped to bring out the heart of this story and shape it into an even better book. Thanks also to Andrea Davis Pinkney, Abby McAden, and the entire Scholastic team for welcoming me to the fold, and for ushering this book out into the world.

  To my niece, Marianna Elise Tarpley, and my nephew, Sebastian Jonah Dennis Tarpley, who are constant sources of inspiration and my two best reasons to keep writing.

  To my sisters, Elizabeth and Nicole Tarpley, and to my brother, Omar Tarpley: Thank you for your constant support. It has meant so much to me in more ways than you know.

  To my extended family—my mother-in-law, Adeline Féthière; Germaine “Tante Gette” Charlier; my sister- and brother-in-law, Sabine and Gunter Berding: Thank you for welcoming me into your family and for providing delicious meals during the writing of this book—not to mention, the opportunity to practice my French and German.

  To Galen “Pen” Pendelton, one of my closest friends—and also my running coach: Thank you for your many words of wisdom, for staying on me to “finish the book,” and for reminding me that I am a “marathon woman.”

  To my friend and former professor, Len Rubinowitz: Thank you for supporting my work all these years, and for the shelf in your office reserved for my books.

  And to my friends (and neighbors) Bernadette Tucker Duck, Rachel Gregersen, and Jane and Bob Bushwaller: Thank you for your enthusiastic support of my work and for making me feel at home in our neighborhood.

  To Gloria and Al Needlman: Thank you for being a source of encouragement, creativity, and inspiration for me and so many others who were lucky enough to be in your classroom (Gloria) and home, and for introducing me to my beschert.

  To my mom, Marlene Tarpley, my best friend, who has read every word: Thank you for always encouraging and nurturing my curiosity and creativity, and for the books and stories in our home that began my writing adventure.

  To my husband, Claude Féthière: Thank you for the joy and laughter, the ’80s music sing-alongs, and impromptu kitchen dances that you bring into my life. I appreciate the many things that you do to take care of me and our family, which have made it possible for me to continue to do the work that I love.

  To my “kittos” Manhattan and Summer, who kept me company during the writing of this book and all the others. I love and miss you both.

  Natasha Tarpley is the author of the bestselling picture book I Love My Hair! and other acclaimed titles for children and adults. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, among other awards. When she is not writing books, Ms. Tarpley can usually be found reading them. She has also taken up the cruel and unusual hobby of running marathons. Ms. Tarpley is the cofounder of Voonderbar! Media, a multicultural children’s book publishing and media company. She fell in love with Harlem and New York City and lived there for many years before moving back to her hometown of Chicago, Illinois, where she lives with her husband and works alongside her neighbors to make their community a better place.

  Copyright © 2017 by Natasha Tarpley

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Tarpley, Natasha, author. | Title: The Harlem charade / by Natasha Tarpley. Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Scholastic Press, 2017. | Summary: Seventh-graders Jin, Alexandra, and Elvin come from very differen
t backgrounds and circumstances, but they all live in Harlem, and when Elvin’s grandfather is attacked they band together to find out who is responsible—and the search leads them to an enigmatic artist whose missing masterpieces are worth a fortune, and into conflict with an ambitious politician who wants to turn Harlem into an historic amusement park. | Identifiers: LCCN 2016040577 | ISBN 9780545783873 (hardcover) | Subjects: LCSH: Detective and mystery stories. | Political participation—Juvenile fiction. | African American artists—Juvenile fiction. | Studio Museum in Harlem—Juvenile fiction. | Community development—New York (State)—New York—Juvenile fiction. | Harlem (New York, N.Y.)—Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Mystery and detective stories. | Studio Museum in Harlem—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | Community life—New York (State)—Harlem—Fiction. | Political participation—Fiction. | Harlem (New York, N.Y.)—Fiction. | New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction. | LCGFT: Detective and mystery fiction. | Classification: LCC PZ7.T176 Har 2017 | DDC 813.54 [Fic] —dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016040577

  First edition, February 2017

  Jacket art © 2017 by CheIen Ecija

  Jacket design by CaroI Ly

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-78389-7

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