Freedom Summer
This is the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, and we’ve already discussed one book depicts that time, REVOLUTION by Deborah Wiles. Like its predecessor, COUNTDOWN, it’s a work of fiction that borrows heavily from the conventions of nonfiction, namely the incorporation of numerous primary source materials, both textual and visual.
There also happen to be two nonfiction treatments, FREEDOM SUMMER by Susan Goldman Rubin and THE FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS by Don Mitchell. Now the latter book is still on my nightstand, but I’m already on record as being a big fan of Scholastic’s line of nonfiction thrillers: CHASING LINCOLN’S KILLER, TITANIC: VOICES FROM THE DISASTER, LINCOLN’S GRAVE ROBBER, THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN SHOT, and THE NAZI HUNTERS, so I’m sure I’ll like this one, too. If REVOLUTION borrows from the conventions of nonfiction then this work of narrative nonfiction returns the favor.
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Although it’s more of a traditional nonfiction book in terms style and design, I read and enjoyed Rubin’s book very much. While she did a stellar job of depicting the period, I felt the focus was a bit diffuse, waffling between the schools, the voting drives, and the murder subplot, but I think that’s just the function of the civil rights movement being a spontaneous grass roots movement rather than being a tightly orchestrated effort.
We often talk about comparing apples to oranges here, but these three books offer slightly divergent takes on the same brief historical period. It’s interesting to note that the nonfiction books split the journals: Booklist and School Library Journal starred the Rubin book, while Kirkus and Publishers Weekly starred the Mitchell book. Do you find that one is more successful than the other?
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About Jonathan Hunt
Jonathan Hunt is the Coordinator of Library Media Services at the San Diego County Office of Education. He served on the 2006 Newbery committee, and has also judged the Caldecott Medal, the Printz Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. You can reach him at hunt_yellow@yahoo.com
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Since we’re beginning this discussion and REVOLUTION is being referred to again, I wanted to respond to Nina’s assessment of REVOLUTION since I missed doing so earlier on. I agree with all of the positives said about the novel and see it as a strong Newbery contender. However, I completely disagree with Nina’s assessment of the character of Raymond as a “fatal flaw” of the novel since Raymond’s character is “not as fully realized a character as Sunny, not by a long shot.” True, Raymond’s share of the alternating narratives is smaller in number, but for the first two-thirds of the novel, his sections are so strong and vivid and important that they don’t, to me, seem any less than Sunny’s part.. I wrote the Horn Book review, and I’m currently teaching the novel with my 7th graders (we’re almost done), and it’s Raymond’s thread of the story that I find myself reading aloud to my students, and discussing and making connections among his sections, from chapter 10 on, as he begins to get dissatisfied at the slowness of the Freedom House SNCC people in doing anything; he wants to be active, and he sees them as just doing paperwork and providing “support.” When he does take action as a FreedomMaker at the movie theater and SNCC’s support proves important, he begins to understand his role in the larger cause. His character clearly evolves in the story. And that scene where his father says “I can’t stop you” (I’m writing this from memory, since my copy is at school) and signs his name to register to vote, what a poignant scene! In many ways the book is as much Raymond’s, and it’s at that movie theater scene that Sunny’s story and Raymond’s really come together. Yes, overall, this is Sunny’s story, and a key theme is how she changes and grows that summer, but after all of my readings of the book, it is Raymond who most stays with me.
I do like Nina’s comments about reading or hearing the text apart from all of the visual material. Those visuals are remarkable, but Wiles’s prose is beautiful, too. I was going to assign the KKK at the movie theater scene for the weekend but didn’t; it’s too powerful and beautifully written to risk as a homework assignment; I’ll read it aloud. The good language must be heard! (I believe it’s chapters 49-52.)
There are so many ways to follow through on elements mentioned in REVOLUTION, one of them certainly being the Freedom Summer Murders. I look forward to this discussion.
Best,
Dean
Thanks for your comments, Dean. Leonard Kim compared REVOLUTION to THE PORT CHICAGO 50 in the latter discussion thread, and I thought it might be more appropriate to compare REVOLUTION against these nonfiction books (not that the other comparison is not also apt). I suspect we may have a running conversation about REVOLUTION all year long.
Not much discussion on this thread or THE PORT CHICAGO 50 thread. Hopefully, some of you will check these titles out, and revisit these discussions in the future. In the meantime, I’m going to recommend some more nonfiction titles below that you may want to check out. In parenthesis, I have the number of starred reviews accumulated. Not including nonfiction in verse or graphic novels since you don’t need prodding for those.
THE FAMILY ROMANOV by Candace Fleming (6)
ANGEL ISLAND by Russell Freedman (4)
EYES WIDE OPEN by Paul Fleischman(4)
THE VOLCANO BENEATH THE SNOW by Albert Marrin (4)
BECAUSE THEY MARCHED by Russell Freedman (3)
BEYOND MAGENTA by Susan Kuklin (3)
FRIDA & DIEGO by Catherine Reef (3)
THE PORT CHICAGO 50 by Steve Sheinkin (3)
SEARCHING FOR SARAH RECTOR by Tonya Bolden (3)
CHASING CHEETAHS by Sy Montgomery (2)
EVERYBODY PAINTS by Susan Goldman Rubin (2)
FREEDOM SUMMER by Susan Goldman Rubin (2)
THE FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS by Don Mitchell (2)
RED MADNESS by Gail Jarrow (2)
STRIKE! by Larry Dane Brimner (2)
STUBBY THE WAR DOG by Ann Bausum (2)
I’m almost done with The Family Romanov, and it is fantastic. I’ve read other books about the Romanovs before, but not one that has woven in the issues that led to the revolution and how Nicholas and Alexandra’s actions and inactions affected the war and the revolution. And Fleming does that so well, creating a sense of onrushing doom.
Have Port Chicago 50 at home but haven’t started it yet.
RED MADNESS by Gail Jarrow also has two starred reviews (Kirkus & SLJ) as does the I AM JOHNNY CASH picture book biography.
Kicking myself for missing RED MADNESS. I typically only list books with at least 64 pages, so thus not only missing JOHNNY CASH, but also the many fine picture book biographies published this year.
I didn’t quite finish FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS though I was enjoying it quite a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed Rubins’ FREEDOM SUMMER…highly readable and engaging, well told, transparent non-fiction, riveting throughout and well documented. I think it’s a standout non fiction text, though it may suffer in comparison to others since it is not flashy or different in any way, and because the design is simply…adequate. I do encourage everyone to read it, and hope it gets some play. This makes for an obvious Newbery contender for me, although it is looking like such a strong nonfiction year it may not go the length.
THE FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS by Don Mitchell is a finalist for the inaugural Kirkus Prize.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/2014/finalists/young-readers/
I’m happy to see the diversity in genres, formats, and audience among the finalists. It’s the kind of thing I was hoping for from the National Book Award long list.
Thanks for the heads-up on this award, Jonathan. After doing a bit of digging I found this info on the selection process:
“In the Young Readers’ Literature category, the finalists will include two picture books, two middle-grade books and two teen books.”
Kind of cool that they have those criteria in place to allow a diverse set of books.
I wasn’t aware of those stipulations, but one suspects these judges might have picked similar books even without the requirements. Of their two YA books, one is a narrative nonfiction (THE FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS), the other is a fantasy (THE STORY OF OWEN). One of their middle grade books is a graphic novel memoir (EL DEAFO), the other is contemporary fiction (THE KEY THAT SWALLOWED JOEY PIGZA). One of their picture books is a biography (THE RIGHT WORD), the other one is not your typical story time picture book (AVIARY WONDERS, INC). The choices are all excellent, but so different from each other that one can make a great argument for any of them winning, which makes this a fun list to think about and discuss.
On the other hand, I kind of feel like the NBA judges, by choosing the token apple (THE PORT CHICAGO 50) and 9 oranges (novels–I think of memoirs as autobiographical novels) have left me with only two possible responses to their ultimate choice:
1. I knew Jackie would win. Yawn. 🙂
2. Jackie got screwed. Screwed, I tell you! 🙁
Yep, I think it is safe to say the Kirkus finalists > the NBA finalists when you look at the lists as a whole. And your comment re: Brown Girl Dreaming and the NBA judges’ choices made me laugh. =)
At the risk of derailing the discussion and getting back to FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS –
just finished it. While I thought it was above average, it did not compare with FREEDOM SUMMER, which covered much the same material in a more readable, compelling manner. Maybe my feelings are due to the order in which I read the books, but between the two, my vote would go to FREEDOM SUMMER!
Elaine, this is exactly why I put FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS down halfway through… Perhaps unfair…as I think each speaks to a different narrative reading taste.
Even if one doesn’t read all of FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS, for comparison to REVOLUTION, I recommend taking a look at the 12 pages after the Afterword. These are four 3-page “opinionated biographies” entitled, “Saint: Fannie Lou Hamer”, “Visionary: Bob Moses”, “Witness: Florence Mars”, “Investigator: Jerry Mitchell,” clearly a point of similarity that might make these two books easier to compare.
I suggest that part of Wiles’ achievement is borrowing “conventions of nonfiction”, as Jonathan says, and making something artistic out of them. Whereas I would say the photographs and music lyrics in the non-fiction titles competently illustrate or add flavor, Wiles’ arrangement of them has an almost musical effect, creating buildup and rhythm and drive, like the overture and interludes of a musical or opera (and yes I know: “primarily on the text”, but they make the text more effective.)
I liked both FREEDOM SUMMER and FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS. I can understand being more responsive to the former. The sections on the Freedom Schools and their effect on the community are really inspirational in a way that FREEDOM SUMMER MURDERS, as good as it is, never quite matches.