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kitsuneheart's review against another edition
5.0
A hard tale. Joe and John Henry both love swimming, but Joe is white and John Henry is Black and this is the 1960s deep South. News goes out that all public services must be integrated, and the boys excitedly plan to go for a swim the next day. But, when they arrive, they find that even the law might not be able to bring people together.
The introduction of this story talks about how it's based upon his own childhood in the South as a young white boy with a Black friend.
Now, this book ends with a somewhat positive note, but it's important to be warned ahead, this story does not go well. This isn't a simple bedtime story. This is meant to go along with an classroom lesson on prejudice and the history of segregation. But it does a great job of showing kids how strongly some people felt (and, sadly, still feel) about the separation of the races. Construct your lesson carefully and be prepared to spend some extra time on this story. But don't let that sway you from reading. It really is a great resource.
The introduction of this story talks about how it's based upon his own childhood in the South as a young white boy with a Black friend.
Now, this book ends with a somewhat positive note, but it's important to be warned ahead, this story does not go well. This isn't a simple bedtime story. This is meant to go along with an classroom lesson on prejudice and the history of segregation. But it does a great job of showing kids how strongly some people felt (and, sadly, still feel) about the separation of the races. Construct your lesson carefully and be prepared to spend some extra time on this story. But don't let that sway you from reading. It really is a great resource.
kelleemoye's review against another edition
5.0
Full review at: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=6962
Deborah Wiles amazes me every time I read something by her. I think I need to get everything she has written and devour it. Her books make me a better person. This one is no exception to these statements. Freedom Summer starts with a personal story of Wiles’s and sets the stage for the book: What would it be like to have a best friend who is black in the South in 1964? Do you know what it is like? Any other friendship! Except many people felt that it was wrong and you cannot go places together. Freedom Summer is about Joe and John Henry. They are both young boys. They both like to swim. They both love ice cream. However, only one can go to the pool and only one can buy ice cream from the store. I think what makes this story so impactful is that Wiles sets the stage of the friendship as something so normal (because it is!!) then shows how different their lives are. So powerful. Made me cry. It’s lyrical writing, soft and beautiful illustrations, and powerful message are so moving. Go read it if you haven’t.
This book belongs in classrooms. It will start discussions and make students think. Luckily, Deborah Wiles helps us out a ton by sharing so many resources with us on her Pinterest board https://www.pinterest.com/debbiewiles/ and her website http://deborahwiles.com/site/resources-for-educators/.
Deborah Wiles amazes me every time I read something by her. I think I need to get everything she has written and devour it. Her books make me a better person. This one is no exception to these statements. Freedom Summer starts with a personal story of Wiles’s and sets the stage for the book: What would it be like to have a best friend who is black in the South in 1964? Do you know what it is like? Any other friendship! Except many people felt that it was wrong and you cannot go places together. Freedom Summer is about Joe and John Henry. They are both young boys. They both like to swim. They both love ice cream. However, only one can go to the pool and only one can buy ice cream from the store. I think what makes this story so impactful is that Wiles sets the stage of the friendship as something so normal (because it is!!) then shows how different their lives are. So powerful. Made me cry. It’s lyrical writing, soft and beautiful illustrations, and powerful message are so moving. Go read it if you haven’t.
This book belongs in classrooms. It will start discussions and make students think. Luckily, Deborah Wiles helps us out a ton by sharing so many resources with us on her Pinterest board https://www.pinterest.com/debbiewiles/ and her website http://deborahwiles.com/site/resources-for-educators/.
readwithpassion's review against another edition
5.0
This is easily one of the best picture books I have ever read and is worthy of the praise it receives. Set in the 1960s South, this moving, lyrical text depicts the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of a child who just wants to adventure with his friend. The messages of are powerful, and I plan to purchase it to read again and again with my son. After we read this as a family, my husband and I wondered if it was a work of nonfiction because it felt so very real to us.
allmadhere106's review against another edition
4.0
This book shows a friendship between a white boy and an African American boy growing up in the South when the segregation laws were beginning to break down. The two boys discuss these issues briefly when there is a harsh instance of prejudice, but for the most part everything is shown as simply being the way it is. I wish that there would have been more discussion in the actual narrative about what was really going on, but in a lot of ways it helped to have it told from a child's perspective with their sensibilities. I think this would be a great book to discuss segregation and growing up in this time period, but I also think that the adult reading it would have to explain and share with the child. I think it can definitely be done, but the adult has to be ready to put that work in.
mstolz's review against another edition
5.0
Great book to explain what happened during Freedom Summer. Author note goes in depth explaining what it was about and the time period. The author has won numerous awards for this book. Winner of Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Awards (Jerome Lagarrigue)
iggnaseous's review against another edition
3.0
A fictive exploration of inter-racial friendship between two young boys in the south in the summer of 1964, when the Civil Rights Act came into effect. An optimistic portrayal.
beecheralyson's review against another edition
5.0
This is a beautiful story of friendship between two children in the south during the tail end of segregation. When I got to the part about the pool, I nearly sobbed.
readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
5.0
Important story. I love how Wiles takes a difficult concept and tells it in a beautiful story about friendship during a difficult time in US history.
heisereads's review against another edition
4.0
Seeing events during the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of a child and his friend.
malaynachang's review against another edition
5.0
I loved reading this book. Short and easy, it is fun to read and really creates a good theme or moral. It has many hidden messages also.