Gloriana June Hemphill, aka Glory, has been looking forward
to this summer when she finally turns twelve. She plans to have her birthday party at the community pool,
like she does every year, and can’t wait for her southern town’s annual Fourth
of July celebration. But
everything seems different this year.
Her 14-year old sister, Jesslyn, who used to be her close friend, is now
ignoring her to hang out with her pep squad friends. Glory’s best friend, Frankie, is acting strangely and
repeating things his brother and father say about the black residents of town
that make Glory feel uncomfortable.
And the whole town is in an uproar over the northerners staying in their
town who are in favor of desegregation.
Glory doesn’t know much about civil rights, but she knows
that she loves their colored housekeeper, Emma, like a second mother, and she
likes her new friend, Laura, who is from Ohio and visiting with her mother, one
of the “northern troublemakers” everyone is talking about. When her beloved pool closes for no
good reason, Glory feels like the summer is ruined, and she can’t figure out
why all the adults around her are so upset about the visitors.
I loved this novel.
Glory is a likable main character, and her innocence and naiveté provide
a different perspective to the civil rights movement, though the novel also
deals with classic growing-up themes.
This is Scattergood’s first novel, and I look forward to reading more
from her.
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