she is?

It tells the story of the fictional Cassie, an 8-year-old character who is based on Ringgold's own childhood memories of growing up in New York City. She would go up to the asphalt roof of her apartment building ("Tar Beach") with her family on hot nights, because there was no air-conditioning in the home. She dreams that she can fly, that she can do anything she imagines, as she lies on a blanket with her little brother. She dreams that she can give her father the union card that he has been denied because of his race. She dreams that she can let her mother sleep late, and eat ice cream every day for dessert. She even dreams that she can buy the building her father works in, and that her mother will not cry when her father can't find work. The quilt depicts the two children on the blanket, and her parents playing cards with the neighbors next to a table set with snacks and drinks. We also see Cassie flying through the sky near the top center. Tar Beach was later made into a children's book, one of several that Ringgold has written.