A review by hsquared
Crow by Barbara Wright

4.0

Wright takes readers to the American South, just before Jim Crow laws permeated the society--a time when African Americans were actually part of the political fabric. The story takes place in 1898, and focuses on a little known incident in Wilmington, North Carolina. Eleven-year old Moses, who is just one generation from slavery, finds himself between his father--a progressive, college-educated journalist--and his beloved grandmother, aka Boo Nanny, who lived a good portion of her life as a slave. Consequently, Boo Nanny is both illiterate and superstitions, yet every bit as proud as Moses' father, and perhaps, just a little more in tune to the precarious balance between whites and blacks. Kids will relate to Moses, as he tries to make sense of both the spoken, and unspoken rules of the world around him. Wright does an excellent job of keeping the thread of hope throughout this prelude to a very dark time in our nation's history, when democracy failed and mob rule emerged victorious. This would be an excellent addition to social studies units on both Reconstruction and Civil Rights. The fast-paced plot makes it a good read for anyone with a taste for adventure, or historical fiction.