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likeboadicea's review against another edition
2.0
Revolution is the tip of the iceberg of American history concerning issues of racial equality and, while it's narrative may have dragged for me in certain places, I found it to be an enjoyable and highly informative read. The story follows one Sunny Fairchild, a young girl of 1960s Mississippi, as she grows to identify the struggles of both family and society as awareness is slowly raised and encourages her to question the foundation of her beliefs for a majority of simple everyday life. Her little town is thrown into uproar with the Freedom Summer: the town pool closes, the movie theater is threatened, restaurant tables are removed, and downtown shops close, all before the backdrop of learning how to live with two newly conjoined families living under her roof. We the reader accompany Sunny as she decides for herself what she wants to belief and the actions she will take to stand for those beliefs.
I definitely believe that this book would be great to use in a classroom setting to introduce students, particularly younger adolescents around Sunny's age, not only to racial issues that America has, and still does in some communities, face, but also about the importance of history. I myself only had a foggy, half-formed understanding about events of racial discrimination that have occurred in the Southern states, and it would be simply unacceptable to let these events fall into the forgotten blue of history. This story isn't just about Sunny. It's about the change that was finally brought about in Mississippi after the conclusion of the novel. I found myself more interested in the various groups and racial happenings than I was in the story of Sunny's family struggles. However, I did appreciate how they tied in nicely together at the end with Jo Ellen giving Sunny her locket in a moment of need, and then Sunny returning it to her later (huzzah character growth!).
The multimedia usage of the novel was also very informative and a simple, quick way to get historical information across. It worked very well with the written portion of the novel, and was a technique that I don't really recall ever seeing before but very much so enjoyed. Overall, I think this is a wonderful introductory piece, the first building block in a pyramid, to the broad and often confusing (to youths especially) topic of racial tension and equality.
I definitely believe that this book would be great to use in a classroom setting to introduce students, particularly younger adolescents around Sunny's age, not only to racial issues that America has, and still does in some communities, face, but also about the importance of history. I myself only had a foggy, half-formed understanding about events of racial discrimination that have occurred in the Southern states, and it would be simply unacceptable to let these events fall into the forgotten blue of history. This story isn't just about Sunny. It's about the change that was finally brought about in Mississippi after the conclusion of the novel. I found myself more interested in the various groups and racial happenings than I was in the story of Sunny's family struggles. However, I did appreciate how they tied in nicely together at the end with Jo Ellen giving Sunny her locket in a moment of need, and then Sunny returning it to her later (huzzah character growth!).
The multimedia usage of the novel was also very informative and a simple, quick way to get historical information across. It worked very well with the written portion of the novel, and was a technique that I don't really recall ever seeing before but very much so enjoyed. Overall, I think this is a wonderful introductory piece, the first building block in a pyramid, to the broad and often confusing (to youths especially) topic of racial tension and equality.
janewhitehurst's review against another edition
5.0
Listened to this on audio and thought it was awesome. Some of the non-fiction parts dragged a bit, but overall, I loved this book. It's no secret that the 1960s are my favorite decade in American history. This book, the second in a trilogy, was about Freedom Summer in Mississippi. It is told from several perspectives including a 12 year old white girl named Sunny and an African American boy named Raymond of about the same age. The book follows these characters through the summer and with non-fiction inserts- songs, chants, newspaper articles- gives the reader a big picture idea of how important this summer was as far as civil rights in our country. I found this book especially poignant given current events in our country. It is amazing what the Civil Rights Activists had to go through in the 60s. Amazing how far we've come and how far we still have to go. I can't wait for the third book, which I assume will take place in the late 1960s.
in_and_out_of_the_stash's review against another edition
3.0
The history was very interesting but the story was too disjointed.
julie_ann_harper_1633's review against another edition
4.0
I had never heard of Freedom Summer before reading this book. It is full of information about what happened during that summer and how everyone felt. It amazed me how so many people did not want the volunteers in their town even though they were there to make their lives better.
bookjockeybeth's review against another edition
ARC supplied by publisher via NetGalley
brandypainter's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 Stars
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
I read Countdown by Deborah Wiles when it came out and loved it. I loved the documentary style format (with some reservations) and the story. I highly anticipated the release of the companion novel, Revolution. It was well worth waiting for and is a powerful and moving story.
Revolution chronicles the events that took place in Mississippi 40 years ago when the "invaders" came, groups of students from all over the country for Freedom Summer. Their goal was to help register black voters and teach in Freedom schools. Many of them were arrested and, three ended up missing their burned car found making national news. In this crucial and tense time in Greenwood, lives a girl named Sunny who longs for adventure and is having difficulties adjusting to the new realities of her family life. Her mother left when she was a baby and her father recently married a divorced woman with two children of her own. Sunny is tired of being told what to do and how to do it. Her life is in enough turmoil as it is when the "invaders' come to town and start stirring things up even more. Sunny is petulant and spoiled through much of the novel. (I seriously thought her parents deserved sainthood for their patience with her.) It isn't hard to understand and feel for her hurt and pain over her mother, figuring out where she fits in her new family, and watching how her new family navigates the treacherous times occurring in her town. What is nice to see is how much she grows and how realistic that growth is. Sunny never before questioned the way of life in Mississippi before this summer, but the coming of these outsiders and a chance encounter with a black boy named Ray begin to change the way she thinks.
Ray is an amazing baseball player with a desire to have what the white kids have, a chance to spend his summer playing, swimming, and seeing movies in a safe nice environment. He sees the way his parents and neighbors work and still can't make ends meet. He saw how his sister died of appendix rupture because the white doctor refused to treat her. Ray is angry and fed up. When his family takes in Jo Ellen (Franny's sister from Countdown and one of the Freedom Summer workers) and he begins to spend more time with SNCC workers, he decides to become more involved in the movement. He does things that are brave and pays some significant consequences.
Together Sunny and Ray's stories (along with a couple chapters from Sunny's step-brother Gillete's point of view) paint a vivd and wrenching picture of what that summer in Mississippi was like for all the parties involved. The supporting cast that surrounds both of them are really well done too, particularly Sunny's parents and grandmothers. Through this lens you get a real feel for all sides and thoughts of the situation during the time. From the white adults too afraid to break the status quo but knew the status quo was wrong to the ones who were brave enough to the ones who thought the status quo was just fine to the ones willing to commit violence to make sure it stayed the way it was, every angle is fully explored.
As in Countdown Wiles uses a documentary style format placing in significant and strategic places pictures, quotes, song lyrics, and primary source documents from the time. It is clear that much thought went in to what would be included, how, and where it would be placed and most of it enriches and makes the story better. And here is the one quibble I have with this and it is similar to the same one I had with Countdown though for different reasons. The essays (reports?). I honestly don't think they add anything significant to what is being done here and just end up making what is already a very long novel even longer. I think most kids would skip them entirely and that they might even throw many readers out of the story completely, which would be tragic because the rest of it is so amazingly well done. The way Wiles writes her characters, setting, and plot combined with the power of the pictures, quotes, and documents tells the story wonderfully.
Some favorite quotes:
Believe me there are only so many times you can sing "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart" before you have no more joy at all, anywhere. None. Zero. It's already as hot as blue blazes in the sixth-grade Sunday School room, and all I can feel is the hot-hot-hot-hot down to my toes. I cannot believe I'm sitting here. I didn't have any joy to begin with.
He did the right thing. When you come clean, when you tell the truth, you lift a great weight off your shoulders. It's not that you don't ever do anything you shouldn't do ever again, of course not. You're human , an sometimes the vagaries of life are just too delicious to ignore. Sometimes you are impetuous. Sometimes you are impulsive. And sometimes that's okay. Sometimes it's not. It's just that, when you know you're caught and you've done something you shouldn't have done, you own up to it.
Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.
I read Countdown by Deborah Wiles when it came out and loved it. I loved the documentary style format (with some reservations) and the story. I highly anticipated the release of the companion novel, Revolution. It was well worth waiting for and is a powerful and moving story.
Revolution chronicles the events that took place in Mississippi 40 years ago when the "invaders" came, groups of students from all over the country for Freedom Summer. Their goal was to help register black voters and teach in Freedom schools. Many of them were arrested and, three ended up missing their burned car found making national news. In this crucial and tense time in Greenwood, lives a girl named Sunny who longs for adventure and is having difficulties adjusting to the new realities of her family life. Her mother left when she was a baby and her father recently married a divorced woman with two children of her own. Sunny is tired of being told what to do and how to do it. Her life is in enough turmoil as it is when the "invaders' come to town and start stirring things up even more. Sunny is petulant and spoiled through much of the novel. (I seriously thought her parents deserved sainthood for their patience with her.) It isn't hard to understand and feel for her hurt and pain over her mother, figuring out where she fits in her new family, and watching how her new family navigates the treacherous times occurring in her town. What is nice to see is how much she grows and how realistic that growth is. Sunny never before questioned the way of life in Mississippi before this summer, but the coming of these outsiders and a chance encounter with a black boy named Ray begin to change the way she thinks.
Ray is an amazing baseball player with a desire to have what the white kids have, a chance to spend his summer playing, swimming, and seeing movies in a safe nice environment. He sees the way his parents and neighbors work and still can't make ends meet. He saw how his sister died of appendix rupture because the white doctor refused to treat her. Ray is angry and fed up. When his family takes in Jo Ellen (Franny's sister from Countdown and one of the Freedom Summer workers) and he begins to spend more time with SNCC workers, he decides to become more involved in the movement. He does things that are brave and pays some significant consequences.
Together Sunny and Ray's stories (along with a couple chapters from Sunny's step-brother Gillete's point of view) paint a vivd and wrenching picture of what that summer in Mississippi was like for all the parties involved. The supporting cast that surrounds both of them are really well done too, particularly Sunny's parents and grandmothers. Through this lens you get a real feel for all sides and thoughts of the situation during the time. From the white adults too afraid to break the status quo but knew the status quo was wrong to the ones who were brave enough to the ones who thought the status quo was just fine to the ones willing to commit violence to make sure it stayed the way it was, every angle is fully explored.
As in Countdown Wiles uses a documentary style format placing in significant and strategic places pictures, quotes, song lyrics, and primary source documents from the time. It is clear that much thought went in to what would be included, how, and where it would be placed and most of it enriches and makes the story better. And here is the one quibble I have with this and it is similar to the same one I had with Countdown though for different reasons. The essays (reports?). I honestly don't think they add anything significant to what is being done here and just end up making what is already a very long novel even longer. I think most kids would skip them entirely and that they might even throw many readers out of the story completely, which would be tragic because the rest of it is so amazingly well done. The way Wiles writes her characters, setting, and plot combined with the power of the pictures, quotes, and documents tells the story wonderfully.
Some favorite quotes:
Believe me there are only so many times you can sing "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart" before you have no more joy at all, anywhere. None. Zero. It's already as hot as blue blazes in the sixth-grade Sunday School room, and all I can feel is the hot-hot-hot-hot down to my toes. I cannot believe I'm sitting here. I didn't have any joy to begin with.
He did the right thing. When you come clean, when you tell the truth, you lift a great weight off your shoulders. It's not that you don't ever do anything you shouldn't do ever again, of course not. You're human , an sometimes the vagaries of life are just too delicious to ignore. Sometimes you are impetuous. Sometimes you are impulsive. And sometimes that's okay. Sometimes it's not. It's just that, when you know you're caught and you've done something you shouldn't have done, you own up to it.
reading_rachel's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED this book. Sunny is such a strong character, and listening to part of the audiobook helped to get a picture of this awesome 12 year old. She learns a lot and grows so much, and she does it with kindness and humor.
One of my favorite lines:
“You’re getting really weird, Sunny,” whispers Polly.
“I know” is all I can whisper back. I know.
One of my favorite lines:
“You’re getting really weird, Sunny,” whispers Polly.
“I know” is all I can whisper back. I know.
jansyn_liberty's review against another edition
4.0
What a nice way to learn history! While it only scratches the surface of the Civil Rights movement, and is written from a distinctly White lens, this young adult novel builds a story that attaches personalized emotion to historical events... hopefully helping me retain the facts better! Thank you to little Sam, the 12 year old boy who recommend this read. :)
ebralz's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this book and it was one where I definitely don't think I would have enjoyed it if I had read it. It was very powerful and listening to it added to that effect.