Rating: 3.5 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Really like the colors.)
Genre: Middle grade
Genre: Middle grade
Publication Date: January 1, 2012
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Page Count: 208 p.
Add it: Goodreads
Glory lives in Mississippi in 1964. There are fountains for the white people and fountains for the coloreds. Pools and schools are segregated and the white folks seem to like it that way. When some people decide to close the local pool though, Glory is flown for a loop. What do they think they can close the pool for. It's summer and almost Glory's birthday and she doesn't want that pool to be closed. They stated that is was for repairs, but slowly Glory realizes that it might have more to do with her new friend from the North and the people they have come to help.
This was a really interesting story. I liked that Glory started off a bit naive, it lent a different feel to the whole subject. Glory doesn't really know a lot about the racism that is part of her every day life. She just sort of blindly follows the rules. Living in Mississippi there doesn't seem to be too many people that are willing to start a ruckus. This story was about quite a few different things. While black people are working to getting the vote and freedom Glory and her sister are growing apart a bit. Glory's older sister is now a teenager and doesn't want to hang out with her little sister. Glory's best friend Frankie is being bullied by his brother and father. This causes him to be nearly unbearable to Glory. He's super racist because that's how his family feels. This is another great discussion book that took a really good look at civil rights in a southern town. The librarian in this is fantastic, a true librarian, the good kind of librarian. She was outspoken and welcomed everyone. If you like historical fiction especially the civil rights time period, check this one out. It is about more than just history though, so it's a good fit for most anyone.
First Line:
"What was taking Frankie so long?"
Favorite Line:
"What's really broken and needs fixing most of all are the backward people running this town and the others who won't do a thing about it."
This sounds like a good read, Britt, I think it would be great for kids to read to learn about racism.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really like the cover too!