Revolution

Starred review from June 23, 2014
This second installment of Wiles's Sixties Trilogy begins during the Freedom Summer of 1964, when hundreds of college students and community organizers arrived to help Mississippi's disenfranchised black citizens overcome voting hurdles erected by local officials. Sunny Fairchild, 12, has seen newspaper stories about these "invaders" and feels an affinity: her household has been taken over by her father's new wife, her children, and her elderly mother. Still, Sunny plans a summer floating in the (whites only) municipal pool, listening to the Beatles, and finding adventures. A chance encounter with Raymond, a talented young black athlete, sets Sunny on a dangerous course, one that exposes the poisonous racism that has her small town on the verge of exploding. As in Countdown (2010), Wiles intersperses Sunny and Raymond's story with historic photos, excerpts from speeches and news stories, and song lyrics that add power and heft to the story. Though the novel is long, it's also accessible and moving, and it will open many eyes to the brutal, not-so-distant past out of which a new standard of fairness and equality arose. Ages 8â12. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from November 24, 2014
Set during the Freedom Summer of 1964, the second installment of Wiles’s Sixties Trilogy begins as hundreds of civil rights activists descend on the town of Greenwood, Miss. to help disenfranchised black citizens overcome voting hurdles erected by local officials. The town is grappling with racial tension, and 12-year-old Sunny Fairchild and her brother are caught in the middle during a late-night adventure at a public swimming pool that bans African-Americans—including the young Raymond, whom Sunny and her brother meet. The story makes for a superb audiobook. Chapters are interwoven with re-created sound bites of reports, speeches, and radio announcements made to sound like authentic primary sources. Asward narrates Sunny’s chapters with a friendly Southern twang and youthful energy that captures the character perfectly. Battiste provides an equally engaging, and at times solemn and reflective, Raymond. Listeners will be enthralled. Ages 8–12. A Scholastic hardcover.