SANCTUARY

Kip Tiernan “passed through a door and there [was] no turning back.” She was compelled to help homeless women.

Food is scarce for Granny’s large family, but she still feeds the strangers at her door during the Depression. Granddaughter Mary Jane, known as Kip, helps. Fast-forward to the 1960s. Kip, an adult, is moved by the social consciousness of the 1960s to work at Boston’s Warwick House, a shelter—for men. When she notices women disguising themselves as men to gain entrance, she campaigns to create a special shelter for them, one with flowers and music and where the residents are respected. Finally, in 1974, she turns an abandoned market into Rosie’s Place, the United States’ first shelter just for women. At each stage of Kip’s journey, illustrations capture the mood. The front endpapers, washes of gray and blue, lead into mostly gray scenes from the Depression, with spots of bright colors in Granny’s kitchen and on Kip’s dress. Splashes of color highlight scenes of the civil rights movement when Kip, as an adult, dedicates her life to helping end poverty, and the grays and colors mix as she struggles to create a sanctuary for Boston’s homeless women. Colorful washes grace illustrations of Rosie’s Place and the final endpapers. The book closes with extensive backmatter about Kip, the Depression, and causes of homelessness. Illustrations depict people of a broad range of ethnicities and ages. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A worthy social justice story about a compassionate woman who dedicated her life to helping others.