Freedom Summer

April 1, 2014
In time for the 50th anniversary of the pivotal civil rights event, Rubin presents heroes, villains and everyday people in 1964 Mississippi. Freedom schools, voter-registration drives and murders drew national attention to Mississippi during the Freedom Summer, and actions there affected the civil rights movement elsewhere, all culminating in the Voting Rights Act, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. The number of eligible black voters rose from 6.4 percent prior to Freedom Summer to 60 percent by the end of 1966. Two threads weave through Rubin's narrative--a detailed story of the murders of civil rights workers Mickey Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman and a less focused, anecdotal picture of freedom schools and voter registration, drawing on extensive personal interviews. Though archival material and many photographs are included, too many pages of dense text are unrelieved by visuals. The extensive research is well-documented, and young readers may find much of interest in the websites recommended. Overall, the account is accessible and passionate, taking the events of that violent summer into the present, when, in 2005, 80-year-old, wheelchair-bound Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty of the murders of Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman and sentenced to three 20-year jail terms. A fascinating treatment of a key civil rights moment. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

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Starred review from May 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Fifty years after the Freedom Summer murders, this meticulously researched, compellingly told account covers an incredible moment in history. Mickey Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney were three young civil rights workers who decided to work for the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) to confront bigotry in Mississippi and register African Americans to vote. They left for Meridian, accompanied by student volunteers from across the United States, (where only 6.4 percent of eligible African American voters were registered.) Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney were killed by Klansmen after being arrested. Their deaths deepened the conviction of the others and served to engender incredible strides in the forward momentum of the civil rights movement. This work gives a real sense of the time and place, the issues and the opposing sides, and the impact on the nation. Including myriad period photos and drawings, facsimiles of reports and records, meticulous source notes, an extensive bibliography, picture credits, and an extensive index, this title is the epitome of excellent historical reporting, with the human element never forgotten.-Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2014
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the watershed summer of 1964, when civil rights workers flooded into some of the most socially oppressive areas of Mississippi. These student volunteers opened schools, registered voters, and promoted positive reform. Set against the backdrop of the puzzling disappearance of three of these young volunteers (known by the FBI case file as Mississippi Burning ), Rubin's crackling narrative chronicles the work of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee amid threats by the Ku Klux Klan. It's no surprise, coming from Rubin, that this reads like suspensefuland almost unbelievablefiction, filled with courageous characters, shocking turns of events, and potent emotion. Fascinating and copious details are drawn from the author's personal interviews with key figures, oral histories, and primary documents, all meticulously sourced in the back matter. Design is the sole weak spot: nonglossy pages and spreads of unadorned text are not especially welcoming. The photographs themselves, though, are well chosen, as are the reproductions of leaflets, reports, and papers, all of which bring vivid life to the events and speak to the human aspects of history. An educator's guide available on the publisher's website offers countless more leads for deeper research and lesson-plan inspiration. This well-researched and heartfelt work covers every angle, thereby honoring the brave inroads made by activists a half century ago.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
With meticulous research and documentation, Rubin focuses broadly on Freedom Summer: the organizers, the volunteers, the voter registration drives, etc. She conducted many interviews, in person, by telephone, and by email, with people who were directly involved, and their firsthand accounts--along with copious archival black-and-white photographs--bring the events to life. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2014
With the fiftieth anniversary of Freedom Summer this year, we are bound to see books on the subject (see Deborah Wiles's Revolution, p. 108), and these two volumes -- both meticulously researched and well documented -- provide excellent introductions. Rubin focuses more broadly on Freedom Summer itself: the organizers, the volunteers, the voter registration drives, etc. She conducted many interviews, in person, by telephone, and by e-mail, with people who were directly involved, and their firsthand accounts -- along with copious archival black-and-white photographs -- bring the events to life. The murders of three young civil rights workers -- James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner -- are included, but they're not the central focus as they are in Mitchell's absorbing book. Like Rubin, he conducted a number of interviews, most with close friends and family members of the men. He provides a fascinating biographical sketch of each, based on these interviews, which gives readers insight into the men's deep commitment to social justice. Mitchell also gives a thorough account of the search for their bodies, and of the years of investigation that culminated in the 2005 trial of one of the murderers, who was at that time eighty years old. Both volumes are useful; the design and content of Rubin's book will be more accessible to younger teens, while The Freedom Summer Murders is more compelling. It will grab you from its opening paragraphs and won't let go until justice is served. kathleen t. horning Anna & Solomon by Elaine Snyder; illus. by Harry Bliss Primary Ferguson/Farrar 32 pp. 5/14 978-0-374-30362-4 $17.99 Snyder tells the story of her grandparents' immigration from Vitebsk, Russia, to New York City. The book begins with a simcha (happy event): a wedding between kindhearted housepainter Solomon and beautiful, nimble-minded Anna. But this is turn-of-the-twentieth-century Russia, and Jews are being persecuted by the czar. The newlyweds decide to leave for America, but they have only enough money for one person's passage. Solomon goes, with the promise to send for Anna as soon as he can. After months of painting houses, he's earned enough to bring Anna over. While waiting on the gangplank, however, he's greeted by a disappointing surprise: it's not Anna who steps off the ship but her younger brother, Label. Soon the brothers-in-law have earned enough for another passage...and this time protective Anna sends her older brother Velvul over. Never fear; by the end of the book, the two lovebirds are reunited. Illustrator Bliss is Snyder's son-in-law, and the book is a love letter to their family. The pictures -- showing Old-World scenes but with a bright, digital look -- convey a range of emotion while keeping things light. The text, too, is full of humor: "[Velvul's] business was doing well -- the herring were flying off the cart and the pickles were jumping out of the barrel." Snyder and Bliss have created an immigration story with elements both broadly universal and comfortably specific. elissa gershowitz

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)