WE'RE NOT IN BROOKLYN ANYMORE!

First they visited their long-lost mother in Oakland in One Crazy Summer, they returned to life with their father in Brooklyn in P.S. Be Eleven, and now the Gaither girls are back--this time visiting their paternal relatives in rural Alabama--in Gone Crazy in Alabama, the third and final installment of the series from award-winning author Rita Williams-Garcia. 

Much like the previous two novels, Williams-Garcia paints an all-at-once funny, poignant, and unflinchingly realistic look at life in the 1960s for these three young black girls and their family. As their father reminds 12-year-old Delphine and her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern while he's telling them to be on their best behavior, "the South's not like Bed-Stuyvesant and you can't get more southern than Alabama." 

And truer words have never been spoken: they get their milk and butter from a cow, the best entertainment is hearing their great-grandmother and great-aunt tell conflicting stories about their decades-long feud, and, perhaps most notably, they experience the very real presence of the KKK. But when a potentially deadly storm strikes, things get even more real as Vonetta goes missing after a fight with her sisters. Will the Gaither girls and their family ever be the same after their time in the deep South? 

This historical fiction novel really tells it like it was, and will make a gripping read for 5th to 8th graders, whether or not they've already enjoyed the previous two books in the series. 

"FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MARRIAGE"

...So begins The Case for Loving, a moving nonfiction picture book centered on the Loving v. Virginia supreme court case and the fight for interracial marriage. Only the year is 1958 and Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred Jeter, part black and part Cherokee, live in the state of Virginia, where it was against the law for people of different races to marry. Though they must relocate to Washington, DC, in order to live together and raise their family, they keep fighting a lengthy legal battle to make sure families like theirs may be allowed to live in all fifty states by 1967.

Accompanied by the gentle yet evocotive paint-and-collage art by Sean Qualls and the book's author Selina Alko, Alko's text is powerful in its simplicity. It might be hard for young readers to imagine a time in America where interracial marriage could land people in jail, and this nonfiction picture book manages to deftly examine the historical injustice through the experience of one family in a straightforward, age-appropriate, and relatably poignant way.

An author's note, words about the art, sources, and suggestions for further reading are included so that parents or teachers might expand on the discussion, but this story of love, family, and standing up for what's right will resonate with young readers in its own right.

Recommend for 3rd grade and up.

THE STORY CONTINUES

The second book in the Sixties Trilogy, Revolution by Deborah Wiles is set in 1964 during Freedom Summer in a small town in Mississippi. The story is told by twelve-year-old Sunny who not only narrates what is going on in her family but also the story of what is happening in her town. Both her personal life and that of her town are being invaded. Her dad has recently remarried a woman with two children and the town is the site of college students working to register the black vote and to integrate public venues.

It is a troubling time on all fronts and like the previous volume (Countdown) this one also includes many photographs, song lyrics, and quotes from the period. To extend the story the author has included many film clips from the period that can be found on http://ow.ly/vBGTc. This is an important story that will linger long after the book is closed.

For readers in grades 5 through 8.

THE LOVE YOU SAVE

NEWBERY WORTHY?

After one crazy summer with their mother, Cecile, in Oakland, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern fly back to Brooklyn and don't make it out of the airport without getting in trouble with Big Ma who is happy to see them but worried about their independence and "power to the people" mindset.  More than the Gaither girls has changed while they were in Oakland, though.  Pa's got a girlfriend, Uncle Darnell isn't the same as when he left for Vietnam, and the political air in Brooklyn and America is rapidly changing.  Not to mention the country is being swept away by this hot new music group, The Jackson Five.  While Delphine loves the tall one, Jermaine, her sisters are in love with the youngest Jackson named Michael.  Delphine tries to be the responsible one and reign the girls in, but no one wants to listen to a bossy older sister anymore.  How will the girls handle all this change?  How will their mother play a role in their lives all the way from Oakland without a telephone or any way to reach her other than letters?

Find out in Rita Williams-Garcia's sequal to One Crazy Summer, P.S. Be Eleven, which, through prose and letters tells the story of the Gaither girls growing up in Brooklyn in the late 60s/early 70s and Cecile's reminder to Delphine to stop growing up so fast and just be eleven.  Grades 6 and up.

FICTION SET IN THE FIFTIES

From Mr. B at the Grandview Branch: LUNCH-BOX DREAM Tony Abbott.

A prejudiced White Northern family touring Southern Civil War sites and a prejudiced Southern Black family traveling north looking for a lost child converge in the Black section at the back of a Greyhound bus. Set in 1959, the chapters use alternate voices to illustrate Jim Crow with cinematic intensity; but too many alternating voices may confuse and discourage middle school readers. It might be best read with an adult willing to discuss the nuances of Jim Crow and discrimination on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line in 20th Century America. For grades 6-8.

THE DAWN OF EQUALITY?

It's the late 1950s, and Rob Garrett is off to a boarding school in Connecticut. But he's leaving his home in Virginia behind, right at an important time in history - the supposed end of segregation in the South. in NEW BOY by Julian Houston, Rob is torn between advancing himself through his educational opportunities, or furthering the role of all African Americans by participating in demonstrations going on in his home town. This year in Rob Garrett's life is an eye-opening, life-changing time, and provides a little window into a very significant era in history. The book has some pretty advanced ideas, so probably best for those reading at an 8th grade level.

THE VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION!

Black History Month is coming to an end, and you probably have done few book reports on the African-Americans who have changed the course of our history. However, in THE VOICE THAT CHALLENGED A NATION: MARIAN ANDERSON AND THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS by Russell Freedman you will find a great story not only about the struggles of the African-Americans but also about Marian Anderson who was an incredibly talented singer who fought for the equal rights of blacks just so she could sing and enhance her music career. Her encounter with Mrs. Roosevelt led her to do many great things to contribute to this great cause and be one of the pioneers of the civil rights movement.

For grades 4th and up.

NOT JUST A FISHING DAY!

The story takes place in the pre-civil rights movement in the south. As two parent-and-child pairs fish alongside a river that is divided into two sections, one side for the whites and the other side for the blacks . The two families fish together never speaking a word to one another. And as one event proceed to another, friendship develops between the two children. You probably have read countless stories about this subject, but there is something really special about the way this story is written. The expressive images with very warm colors have definitely given the book a more comforting appeal. It is a sweet story about the power of communication and friendship. FISHING DAY by ANDREA DAVIS PINKNEY and the illustrations are by SHANE W. EVANS can be enjoyed here at the library or you can check it out.

For Preschool to third grade.