Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages
219
Description
When her FBI-agent father is transferred to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964, eleven-year-old Alice wants to be popular but also wants to reach out to the one black girl in her class in a newly-integrated school.
Description
An unflinching story about racism and culture clash in the 1960s.
The year is 1964, and Alice Ann Moxley's FBI-agent father has been reassigned from Chicago to Jackson, Mississippi, to protect black people who are registering to vote. Alice finds herself thrust into the midst of the racial turmoil that dominates current events, especially when a Negro girl named Valerie Taylor joins her sixth-grade class -- the first of two black students at her new school because of a mandatory integration law.
When Alice finds it difficult to penetrate the clique of girls at school she calls the Cheerleaders (they call her Yankee Girl), she figures Valerie, being the other outsider, will be easier to make friends with. But Valerie isn't looking for friends. Rather, Valerie silently endures harassment from the Cheerleaders, much worse than what Alice is put through. Soon Alice realizes the only way to befriend the girls is to seem like a co-conspirator in their plans to make Valerie miserable.
It takes a horrible tragedy for her to realize the complete ramifications of following the crowd instead of her heart.
The year is 1964, and Alice Ann Moxley's FBI-agent father has been reassigned from Chicago to Jackson, Mississippi, to protect black people who are registering to vote. Alice finds herself thrust into the midst of the racial turmoil that dominates current events, especially when a Negro girl named Valerie Taylor joins her sixth-grade class -- the first of two black students at her new school because of a mandatory integration law.
When Alice finds it difficult to penetrate the clique of girls at school she calls the Cheerleaders (they call her Yankee Girl), she figures Valerie, being the other outsider, will be easier to make friends with. But Valerie isn't looking for friends. Rather, Valerie silently endures harassment from the Cheerleaders, much worse than what Alice is put through. Soon Alice realizes the only way to befriend the girls is to seem like a co-conspirator in their plans to make Valerie miserable.
It takes a horrible tragedy for her to realize the complete ramifications of following the crowd instead of her heart.
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
219 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
0374386617 / 9780374386610
Similar in this library
Lexile
550L
User reviews
LibraryThing member abbylibrarian
When Alice Moxley moves to Jackson, Mississippi from Chicago, she's stunned at how Negroes are treated. Her father is an FBI agent who's been sent to Mississippi to protect black people who are registering to vote. Soon Alice learns that in order to fit in, you can't be seen as a "Negro-lover".
I only meant to start this book tonight, but once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. Based on the author's own experiences in Mississippi in the 1960s, this is a very readable story. Alice is a spunky girl trying to find her way in a new school. She doesn't always make the morally right decisions, but by the end of the book she's done what she could to redeem herself.
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Then Alice learns that her school will be integrated this year. Valerie Taylor, the daughter of an influential black minister, is in her class. And Alice finds herself torn between being part of the popular clique and doing what she knows is right. I only meant to start this book tonight, but once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. Based on the author's own experiences in Mississippi in the 1960s, this is a very readable story. Alice is a spunky girl trying to find her way in a new school. She doesn't always make the morally right decisions, but by the end of the book she's done what she could to redeem herself.
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LibraryThing member GaylDasherSmith
I had to read it to see why people want to ban it. Yes, it uses the N word a number of times as it is written in the language of the American South in the 60s, but it's mostly about a young girl trying to fit in.
LibraryThing member gbartlett
Young girl whose father is in the FBI is sent to the south during the school desegregation. She is the only white child in an all black school.
LibraryThing member lydiasbooks
Highly recommending this to anyone interested in historical fiction, civil liberty and 60s USA issues. Informative, readable with identifiable realistic characters and a good writing style. I found this very interesting but sad. I'll be keeping a lookout for other books about these issues.
Subjects
Awards
Nebraska Golden Sower Award (Nominee — 2007)
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (Nominee — 2008)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist — Grades 4-8 — 2006)
Great Stone Face Book Award (Nominee — 2006)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 3-5 — 2006)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2006-2007)
Mark Twain Readers Award (Nominee)
CCBC Choices (2005)
Call number
J4D.Rod