Girl Walking Backwards

Amazon.com

Although the protagonist of Girl Walking Backwards is a young, more-or-less "out" lesbian, this not a lesbian novel so much as a classic, post-Catcher in the Rye roman à clef, closely observed and skillfully written. Skye has even fewer illusions than Holden Caulfield, but she manages to be cynical without being world-weary. She signs up for volleyball at her new high school only because the girls on the team are beautiful, then shrinks from making the first move toward them: "Making friends is such a formal thing," she reflects. "It would have been so convenient if we all drank. Puking is great bonding, holding your friend's head over the toilet seat is kind of an intimate act. Puking friends come and go, though, at least that was my experience in junior high." When she catches sight of the doomed, black-clad Jessica, Skye thinks she has found a soulmate, but Jessica turns out to be a murky reflection of Skye's mother--unhappy and unstable, feeling cheated by life. To what extent Skye will be pulled down into others' trouble is the issue beneath the more pressing questions of whom she will love, and who will love her. A first novel of unusual distinction. --Regina Marler

Book Description

Skye wants what all teenagers want--to survive high school.She lives in Southern California, though, which is making that difficult.Her mother has fallen victim to the pseudo-New Age culture and insists on dragging her to consciousness-raising workshops and hypnotists.As if this weren't difficult enough, Skye falls in love with Jessica, a troubled gothic punk girl who cuts herself regularly with sharp objects.When she finds her boyfriend having sex with Jessica in a bathroom stall at a rave, her romantic illusions collapse and she has to face the fact that she's been running away from her mother's insanity.Right when things look their worst though, Skye is helped by Mol, a pagan who becomes her true friend, and Lorri, a graceful volelyball player with whom she finds real love.From them she learns how to feel authentic emotions in a culture of poseurs and New Age charlatans. In this anti-coming-of-age novel, where growing up is irrelevant, this is the best gift of all.

Customer Reviews:

Okay..........2007-09-24

After having read many novels from this genre, I just wasn't that impressed. There are many pros and cons to this story...

Pros: It did keep my attention, and I found the imagery between Jessica and Lorri as polar opposites interesting. It also exposes cutting as a real issue.

Cons: The blatant drug usage didn't really appeal to me. What I like about this genre is the actual realness of characters and I found the idea of this everyday usage being normal a bit out there. There wasn't very much development of the Skye/Lorri relationship and I thought the mother was just a bit too extreme.

So, in the end, it's nothing compared to the greats of this genre--Annie on my Mind, Empress of the World, etc., but it's not terrible either. Just not great for realists...

shameful.......2007-07-23

I wish I could give this even fewer stars. It is despicable that there are authors peddling books to our children that encourage not only premarital sexual behavior, but perverse behavior at that. Shame on Bett Williams.

like it.......2007-04-11

im currently reading the book and i rele like it..the author is very intriguing in how she expresses the character's through sex and stuff...its just very interesting

Eh, ok........2007-03-16

I liked this book more towards the beginning. After a while, it became tedious and a bit sloppy. It was sort of depressing, but the problem is that it's depressive nature was not artistic, nor did it lead to any sort of greater understanding. It was just dim. I'd suggest that you just buy the book used or borrow it, if you're intent on reading it.

Good book with one caveat.......2007-02-06

I really enjoyed this book and thought the character of Skye was very fleshed out and real. However, I was a little disappointed by the character of Jessica, a goth girl who self-mutilates. I thought Jessica was a fascinating character, but I took issue with the fact that all of her self-mutilation behavior was described very stereotypically, in a way that shows that the author has limited knowledge of the subject. Jessica cuts herself for attention, to stand out, and to look tough. Her self-mutilation also works as a tool to show that she is ultimately self-destructive. The issue I have with this is that most people who cut are not doing it for attention, are trying very hard NOT to be self-destructive, and don't want people to know about their self-mutilating behaviors. It's a topic that I am somewhat sensitive about, and I was a little peeved at the author's stereotypical characterization of the subject. Other than that, I really loved this book and would reccommend it to anyone, teens or adults, as a beautiful, difficult coming of age story.

Average customer rating:

Summer of Kings
The Summer of Kings: Good, Not Great
A Summer Of Kings, an amazing book
Wonderful historical fiction/coming of age novel!!
A Summer of Kings reigns true

A Summer of Kings
Han Nolan
Manufacturer: Harcourt Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Historical Fiction | History & Historical Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

General | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0152051082

Book Description

It's 1963 and fourteen-year-old Esther Young is looking for excitement. Cursed with a lack of talent in a family filled with artistic types, Esther vows to get some attention by initiating a summer romance with a black teen accused of murdering a white man in Alabama.

King-Roy Johnson shows up on Esther's doorstep that summer, an angry young man who feels betrayed by the nonviolent teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. Sent north by his mother to escape a lynch mob, he meets a follower of Malcolm X's who uses radical teachings about black revolution to fuel King-Roy's anger and frustration. But with each other's help, both Esther and King-Roy learn the true nature of integrity and find the power to stand up for what is right and true.

National Book Award-winning author Han Nolan brings readers a bold new voice--by turns funny and poignant, innocent and worldly--in this powerful coming-of-age story set during the turbulent struggle for civil rights.

Customer Reviews:

Summer of Kings.......2007-08-14

A Summer of Kings, is a realistic fiction book it contains adventure. The book is written by Han Nolan, takes place in the 1960s during a time when the world was facing racial tensions between African Americans and Anglos. This book is realistic, historical and emotional. It disputes both sides of racism, the violence of the white man against the black man and the anger of the black man towards the white man.

In the book, one of the main characters, King-Roy Johnson, is accused of murdering an Anglo man. Esther, the 14 year old Anglo girl, has very strong emotions about wanting to become something new, something better. She is very frustrated with herself because her family makes statements to her about her being stupid because she failed the 3rd grade. This is obvious when she is told that she should be a gym teacher since it does not require intelligence. She believes that by falling in love with King-Roy, this will begin the process of becoming something new.

King-Roy begins to believe the teachings and philosophies of Malcolm X, who promotes the use of violence to resolve racial issues, after meeting Ax (who doesn't like the "white-devils" which are Anglos) on the bus to live at the Young's House. Esther learns the peaceful ways of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ghandi principles.

Esther and King-Roy produced issues between them. Esther is approaching the issues as not keeping promises and honesty. Esther's first matter is promises because King-Roy said that he would meet her, Sophie, and Stewart at the bus station, but in spite of his honesty they went to Harlem to get him so they would be home on time for dinner.

Esther's friend, Pip was "in training" for cross-country so Esther would run with him every morning at 5:00 a.m. Later in the city, King- Roy and Esther agreed to meet at the bus station at 4:00 p.m. to go back home; King- Roy never showed up after Sophie and Stewart's auditions. King-Roy was found in Harlem with his friend, Ax (who didn't like "white devils" which are Anglos). Esther then climbed up a tree because she was mad that her family was making fun of her. Her father came to her and said that he was sorry about the incident that happened. Next, King-Roy came and said that he would teach Esther how to tap dance. Lastly, Mrs. Young, Esther's mother, came outside to apologize Esther was complaining because she never received a thank-you for everything that she did. Mrs. Young said that she never receives a thank-you from anybody in the house-hold.

I really liked the book, its description and mental visualization. I didn't really like the lack of honesty between each character. The narrator explained their story very well and simple so it was easy to receive the information.

The book is one of my new favorite books. It is in my top 3 books!!!

The Summer of Kings: Good, Not Great.......2007-06-18

First, I would like to start off with the cover of the book. King Roy (the black man) looks like a 14-year-old boy without glasses. In the book he wears glasses, but how come not on the cover? Esther (the girl) looks like a 10-year-old, even though she is 14. Now I am going to talk about the characters. Sophia (Esther's 6-year-old sister) is a little spoiled brat who I've wanted to strangle ever since I started the book. Stewart (Esther's 7-year-old brother) is one of the only nice people in the book. Monsier Vichy is a cool character, even though Esther keeps saying he's "evil" (maybe because he's French, but who knows). Esther's mother is the most uptight mother ever, and she even makes fun of Esther, but she doesn't seem to mind. If I was
Esther, I would already have hitten her with a baseball bat. Esther's father is not in the book that much. The only thing I know about him, is that he is a director. Auntie Pie is a weirdo who has a very sweet tooth, Beatrice is an actress who is bad, and that's all I know about them. Pip is probably my favorite character, because he's calm, and he doesn't do stupid stuff. King Roy is following Malcom X's plan of destroying all the whites (yawn, like that's going to happen) and gets mad practically everyday. Esther is worried about the change, and thinks she is getting left behind. She is an outcast even in her family, and everyone thinks she is stupid, except for Pip. All in all, The Summer of Kings is a good book, but it sure is not a masterpiece.

A Summer Of Kings, an amazing book.......2007-04-24

"I decided that this would be the summer of a new me, a more mature me, a more mysterious and exotic me, and I determined that are new houseguest, the murderer, was to play a starring role in my new life." This is a quote from the amazing historical fiction novel, A Summer of Kings, by Han Nolen.
Esther is 14 years old, and she is always getting "left behind". Everyone is always telling her to grow up and her family is mean to her. She wants this summer of 1963 to be different, and it will be.
Esther plans on falling in love with King-Roy, who is an 18 year old African American sent to live with Esther's family after being accused of killing someone. King-Roy feels that the only way to get his rights is by being violent. He hates whites and is upset by the segregation going on in the world. Esther tries to help and understand while learning about what is happening in the world and "being the change she wants to see in the world'.
This is an amazing story, telling people to stand up for what is right and reminding people what life was like in the 1960's and the importance of freedom. Ester's feelings come right out of the book and I feel as if everything happening to Esther is happening to me.
I would recommend this book to anyone in 6th to 8th grade. I would also recommend this book to people who enjoy learning about the past and the life and problems of people who lived during that time.

Wonderful historical fiction/coming of age novel!!.......2006-07-22

A Summer of Kings is a great book. Part Historical Fiction, part a story about finding out who you are and what your place in the world is. It is very well written, thought provoking, has wonderfully developed characters, humor, and romance.

The plot:

Esther young is 14 years old, and is the black sheep of the family. She is viewed as untalented, stupid, and ugly. She is actually quite the opposite, and she is looking for a change. The perfect chance comes when she learns that a black man named King-Roy Johnson is coming to live with them, after being accused of murdering a white man. She is determined to fall in love with him, and have him return her feelings, an idea that receives much scorn from her best friend 'Pip'. When King-Roy arrives, Esther immediatly likes him, and he immediatly feels comfortable with her. They would be fast friends, except for King-Roy's internal struggle with what he believes is right. After a terrible tragedy results from the peaceful teaching of Martin Luther King Jr., King Roy is more enclined to believe in the teachings of Malcom X, A man who is against whites and believes that the only way to freedom is through violence. King-Roy and Esther will both go through a tough time in there life, in which they search for what is right, and what the true meaning of freedom is.

This book is wonderful! Han Nolan fans will thouroughly enjoy it, and so will first time readers of her work! ENJOY!!

A Summer of Kings reigns true.......2006-07-12

The story of Esther Young's summer preceding the famous March on Washington is one not to be missed. It was amazing how Nolan was able to intertwine such an important piece of history with a fictional story of a young girl's road to self-discovery. Whether the fiction or the history encompassed by this story is of interest to any reader, he or she is bound to love the story for all its parts.

Guns and Guerilla Girls: Women in the Zimbabwean National Liberation Struggle

Average customer rating:

Guns and Guerilla Girls: Women in the Zimbabwean National Liberation Struggle
Tanya Lyons
Manufacturer: Africa World Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

South Africa | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

Zimbabwe | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1592211674

Book Description

Guns and Guerilla Girls: Women in the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle is about women guerilla fighters in the Zimbabwean National Liberation war (1965-1980). It provides an examination of the plethora of representations of women who joined the struggle for national independence and contributes to a feminist understanding of Zimbabwe and African history and politics.

Most previously published accounts about women's roles in the Zimbabwean liberation struggle have tended to focus on their "feminine" or "natural" roles as mothers or alternatively on the post-independence concerns expressed by women in Zimbabwe. Both of these views have ignored and excluded women's actual experiences of guerilla fighting.

Guns and Guerilla Girls is the first text to both challenge the representations of "women as warriors" and provide a space for women ex-combatants in Zimbabwe to re-present their past and their histories. The text is also original in its aim to create a dialogue within postcolonial discourse in order to facilitate understanding and healing vis-à-vis women's war time experiences.

Customer Reviews:

A really great story, and a really great read.......2007-01-06

I am picky about children's literature. As a librarian, I have to be. But it also means that I read...a lot. And this little gem of a book is hands down one of my favorites of the year. I have handed it to many children, and no one has been disappointed.

Young Lucy is missing her mother, who has left her and her father on an extended road trip. She is a square peg in a round hole and she likes it that way. But is sixth grade ready for Lucy?

A delightful read through and through. I true rarity in today's publishing world.

Lucy Moon Rocks My World.......2006-11-17

This could be one of my favorite books. This book had a little bit of everything in it. It showed so many sides to Lucy's character and she wasn't just an average junior high girl that always ends up in books. The book also had lot of cliff hangers that made me stay up reading and reading to find out what happens to Lucy next or what new protest idea she came up with this time. There was also some drama of Lucy's mom being gone on a photography journey for almost eight months! It also had romance with her new friend Sam and even some friendship problems with her best friend since forth grade Zoë. This is a great book for girls from about eleven to fourteen.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2006-11-01

During the entire time I spent reading THAT GIRL LUCY MOON, I kept having the feeling that Lucy, the main character, was a girl who reminded me of someone else. Some other young girl that I'd read about in another book; someone similar, and yet different. Finally, it came to me. Lucy Moon reminds me of that wonderful free spirit, Stargirl Caraway, from Jerry Spinelli's award-winning young adult novel, Stargirl (Readers Circle). Believe me, this isn't a bad thing. If you've read Stargirl (Readers Circle), you'll know what I mean. If you haven't, that's okay, because you're about to get a big does of free spirit-ism, activism, elitism, and a whole bunch of other -ism's when you dive into your copy of THAT GIRL LUCY MOON.

Having just started middle school, Lucy quickly realizes that she's stepped foot on another planet--and that all of her schoolmates have suddenly turned into hormone-driven, soul-spitting aliens. Up until now, Lucy has always been a girl who has known her place in the world, has known her purpose and the things that drive her. She's always known that her parents love her (her mother, the equally free spirited artist, and her father, who can sometimes be distant), that it's her destiny to fight for those who can't fight for themselves, and that her best friend, Zoe, will always be by her side.

Lucy's defense of her green and yellow hemp hat is soon forgotten, though, when two kids from her school are arrested for sledding on Wiggins Hill. When the owner of said hill, Miss Ilene Viola Wiggins, goes so far as to put a fence up around the best sledding place in town, some type of action needs to be taken. So begins Lucy's new pursuit--getting her fellow classmates, and the entire town, to see that what Miss Wiggins is doing is wrong. But this activism doesn't immediately win her any friends; she is, in fact, ostracized by her school friends, threatened by the principal, and, in general, tormented because of her beliefs.

When you add in that Lucy's mother has somehow turned a picture-taking trip into a vacation from parenting, and that her dad doesn't seem to know what to do about it, what you end up with is an adolescent girl who has a lot on her shoulders. The joy of THAT GIRL LUCY MOON isn't just that it's a delightful coming of age story, or even that the "fight" against Miss Wiggins is a lesson in activism. The true gem, the delight that makes THAT GIRL LUCY MOON such a wonderful novel, is the very real feelings of hope and discouragement that mingle inside of the free spirit that is Lucy. Although similar to the aforementioned Stargirl, Lucy is a girl unlike any other you'll ever read about. For that alone you need to pick up a copy of THAT GIRL LUCY MOON, and find out for yourself just what type of heroine Lucy is. You might even realize that, inside of all of us, is that same hope mixed with discouragement that makes us human.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Richie's Picks: THAT GIRL LUCY MOON.......2006-09-08

"And Lucy attended detention -- an after-school club for the activist!"

"We can change the world, rearrange the world,
It's dying to get better."
--Graham Nash, "Chicago"

The fact is, I can totally enjoy the humor when a children's book author
uses the concept of tofu for Thanksgiving as the butt of a joke. Amy
Timberlake's THAT GIRL LUCY MOON now joins Denys Cazet's hysterically funny MINNIE AND
MOO AND THE THANKSGIVING TREE in that regard. But you have to also figure
that if I'm going to speak up about this awesome tale of a sixth-grade
activist named Lucy Moon then, as a fellow activist as well as a vegetarian for 28
years, one who has been grateful to consume tofu for many a Thanksgiving,
I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity to begin educating y'all about
the wonders of having a tofu feast with all the trimmings. And so I'll share
with you the Richie method of preparing tofu that everyone around here
(hard-core carnivores included) always comes grabbing seconds and thirds of:

Ingredients:
1 lb. packages of tofu (The ultimate in my part of the world is White Wave
Tidal Wave Organic Extra Firm)
Red Star Large Flake Nutritional Yeast
Extra virgin Olive Oil
San-J Organic Wheat-Free Tamari

Directions: Drain tofu and slice each one pound package into eight slices.
Heat skillet on medium high and pour in sufficient olive oil to cover the
bottom of the skillet. When the oil is hot, arrange the tofu slices in the
skillet and fry until they are completely golden on the first side. Just before
flipping over the tofu, spoon a generous covering of the nutritional yeast
over the uncooked side of each slice. Flip over the tofu and add a bit more
olive oil so that the yeast doesn't scorch. When the tofu slices are golden on
both sides, lightly splash tamari over them, wait 30 seconds, flip them over
one more time, and then remove them from the skillet.

(If you're figuring on having mashed potatoes with the tofu, then a gravy
can be made with the tofu "drippings" by using some of the potato water, some
thinned-down red miso, along with a bit of corn starch and water if you want
to thicken the consistency a bit.)

That this year's holiday will turn out to not be a stellar Thanksgiving for
Lucy Moon will have relatively little to do with her misguided attempt to
prepare a tofu main course without the benefit of Richie's recipe for killer
yeast tofu. At such a pivotal juncture in her life -- the beginnings of junior
high -- Lucy is facing the mysteries and new dynamics of school, along with
the sudden development of her best friend Zoe, all without the benefit of
Lucy's mother. Mom, an artsy and idiosyncratic photographer who clearly must
have been there to support Lucy's well-documented activist past in elementary
school, has set out on a trip around the country to take pictures of clouds
over a variety of landscapes. But instead of returning when she is supposed to,
as has always been the case with previous years' photo excursions, Lucy's
Mom will opt to both indefinitely extend her adventures and to distance
herself emotionally as well as geographically from her only child and from Lucy's
dad, the town postmaster.

"And the strangeness of junior high didn't stop there. No, as the weeks
went on, the sixth graders had developed other signs of junior-high sickness.
When teachers turned their back, notes about who liked who traveled palm to
palm, and books with dog-eared pages describing people 'doing it' were read
under lips of desks. In elementary school -- only five months ago -- everyone
had acted normal. Now, after a summer and a couple of months in junior high,
they were cliched characters from a drippy teen movie!"

It will be an interesting debate among those middle schoolers who have the
good fortune to read THAT GIRL LUCY MOON in a class or book group. Question:
Is Lucy's biggest obstacle to serenity and success in middle school going to
be overcoming the boys' obnoxious hallway bra checks (with a number 2
pencil), other annoyances engaged in by her harmonally-challenged peers, along with
the formation of cliques and the boy/girl groupings; OR is it going to be
dealing with the damage suffered as the result of the war of wills in which
Lucy becomes engaged with Miss Ilene Viola Wiggins, the town's moneybags
matriarch, who apparently decides to show Lucy who is really in charge of Turtle
Rock, Minnesota?

Aided by the story's lack of malls, laptops, and contemporary communications
devices (The two best friends keep in touch by walkie-talkie, while
communication with Mom consists of phone calls and letters.), author Amy Timberlake
does an exceptional job of setting up Turtle Rock, Minnesota as its own
little world, a town unto itself. Furthermore, the author gives the impression
that she must have spent a bit of her own childhood happily entertained by
Garrison Keillor, for we encounter clever, folksy references to what the local
radio station is playing and the Minnesota climate quickly settles in as one of
the story's omnipresent and colorful characters:

"After that first November snowstorm, the clouds continued to bring snow to
Turtle Rock -- no blizzards, but steady, steady workaday snow. There was
light, dry snow -- barely visible, but making the air and everything seen
through it sparkle. There was the kind of snow that came assembly-line fashion,
one snowflake rushing after the next. This snow lasted all day and into the
night. And then there were the big flakes that floated out of the sky,
drifting like daisy petals -- 'She loves me...She loves me not...She loves me.' The
snow piled up in curbs, outlining trees, causing the tops of pines to
genuflect under the weight. When the wind blew, long strands of snow combed over
land and road."

When faced with an onslaught of adversity as a result of her activist
impulses, Lucy Moon is compelled to consider why she is inclined to act in such a
manner. To watch how she engages in self-reflection in regard to that
behavior will undoubtedly cause many astute young readers to ask why they act (or
fail to act) when they encounter injustice in their own lives.

A moon in the sky with diamonds.......2006-08-31

I was born contrary. Should you crow a little too loudly about how good this thing or that thing is, I immediately decide to set about sniffing out its flaws. I don't want to come across as easily won over. Never. You see where this is leading, don't you? For a while now I haven't been able to so much as glance at a children's literature blog without eventually seeing the writer go into fits of pure ecstasy over Amy Timberlake's, "The Girl Lucy Moon". Was I going to be so easily swayed by the pack? No sir! This "Lucy Moon" business was going to have to do a puh-reety good job if it wanted to win my heart any time soon. Thus thinking I picked it up, gave it a look-see and... uh...

Okay, fine.

I really really liked it. I've a soft-spot in my heart for books of kiddie activism. The excellent writing, plotting, and arc of the title just happened to be a nice plus.

Up until this moment in time, Lucy Moon has enjoyed a certain amount of infamy. Everyone in her elementary school knew who she was. She was the kid with the extra long braids and the yellow and green hemp hat that, when asked to remove the article, would launch into a well-rehearsed dialogue on the exploitation of Mexican workers, sometimes managing to work in a small "and did you know that hemp should be legal" speech on the side. She was the one who defended ants when boys fried them with magnifying glasses and led protests on a regular basis. But now everything's different. Lucy has just started the sixth grade in Middle School and she's not as sure of herself as she once was. To boot, her mother has taken off on a cross-country road trip in which she hopes to photograph cloud formations around the U.S. That might be okay (she does this sort of thing once a year) but this time she doesn't look as if she's coming back. Then two kids are arrested while sledding down Wiggins Hill. Immediately Lucy launches into action, reporting on the arrest when even the local papers refuse to and organizing a small protest against the most powerful woman in town, Miss Wiggins. What Lucy doesn't expect is the violent backlash against her small objections. Now she must face overwhelming punishment for acting within her rights while dealing with her personal issues at home.

It may be done on a small scale, but what this book is doing, to some extent, is rather epic. On the surface it may only be about a girl who goes head to head with the establishment and sees the extent to which it works against her. Expand it a little farther and this is about basic civil liberties. To object to the closing off of Wiggins Hill by Miss Wiggins, Lucy creates little postcards for the other kids in the school to send to the hill's owner. Sending postcards in this manner, if done politely, is not harassment nor, for that matter, illegal. Yet the entire process ends with Lucy threatened with suspension for even attempting such a thing. This is deeply unfair, but how different is it from actions taken against everyday citizens in this or any other country? "That Girl Lucy Moon" is about oppression, pure and simple, but rendered in a form that kids everywhere can understand. As a person, Lucy's defense of her beliefs makes perfect sense. She's the ideal heroine. Why does she fight? "She did it in order to release the pressure that injustice created inside of her". Still, there's more to her than that.

This defense of our civil liberties is coupled against two other central story elements. Timberlake, as an author, is setting up the theme of fighting oppression while also making Lucy a realistic human being. I mean, Lucy may fight against something bigger than herself, but she's not perfect by any stretch. When her friend Zoe makes up a remarkable imitation of the local town paper with the story of the sledders' arrest front and center, Lucy fails to give her any credit. Later on, Lucy is almost entirely beaten down by the forces she's trying to fight. Her response? Well, for a little while she just gives up entirely. All she wants to do is sleep all day, a classic case of depression. Though she's only in the sixth grade, Lucy has both a personal and professional life to balance, and neither one of them are going too smoothly. After all, finding herself living with just her father is like, "being left with a relative seen only on major holidays, maybe like an uncle who is an officer in the army and is used to a little authority". What impressed me was the degree to which Lucy's father, not someone she's really been close to in the past, comes through for her. There was a 30 second moment while I read this book when I thought that maybe Lucy's dad was going to drop the ball, leaving a huge plot gap in the center of the novel. Then Timberlake filled that gap with an expert hand and I was left feeling both relieved and impressed.

Then on top of all of this, Timberlake makes the book funny. No really! Think about how hard the two must be. To be honestly amusing and deal with huge issues on such a small scale... and then to make it funny to boot. Puberty in middle school? "But hormones were just chemicals, right? So if her reaction had been caused by a brain-chemical spill, like the Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska, there should be some sort of clean-up program to initiate". Or how about referring to an unattractive coat as being akin to "puppet flesh"? We can all debate amongst ourselves whether or not that or the later descriptor of calling a thrift shop shirt, "Grover fur", is funnier. Later, Lucy is asked to say what she is thankful for on Thanksgiving. "There was a long pause as she tried to think thankful thoughts. It was like waiting for a herd of tortoises to climb a hill".

And then the writing itself is often prone to the occasional spark of beauty. "Sledders dreamed about that extra slide, when the air turned so blue that the whole world looked like it was underwater, and the only light came from reflection of the dusk moon on the blue-white snow". Magnificent.

The story also puts into words the small truths that exist in this world but go unnoticed until someone is able to write them down on paper. For example, eventually the kids in Lucy's school decide to give her their support. This might strike some as out of character, but Timberlake is able to back it up. "... the kids at the junior high began to feel the invoking of that ancient line in the sand that separates kids from adults: the us and them, the out-of-the-know and the in-the-know, the powerless and the powerful". You could say as much for any oppressed people when a member of their community is punished as an "example". Finally, another thing the book did that few children's books think to is illustrate the degree to which it is important for kids to sometimes get apologies, "unembellished with excuses".

There have been quite a few interesting books in which a kid is ostracized or, worse still, actively disliked by the majority of their school's student body. "Home, and Other Big, Fat Lies", by Jill Wolfson was one such example. Few books really bring the idea home quite as well as "Lucy Moon", though. The ups and downs of middle school popularity (to say nothing of whether or not its even worth it) are cataloged here in shockingly realistic detail. My friends, I wasn't just won over by this book. I was bowled over by this book. It fully deserves the acclaim it's undoubtedly going to receive. I haven't even found a way to mention so many of the other things I liked about this book. Things like the pure Minnesotan taste of it all, or the fact that the local radio station plays things like, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" on the Theremin. So let's just end this review with the last lines in the book. "At the junior high, things continued on, except that some students began to question. Questions turned out to be a bigger thing than most of them realized".

This year's must-read book.

Average customer rating:

Awesome Summer Read
Powerfully poignant story of faith
Behind the Shadows is Light
Absolutely powerful!!!
So special

Riding Through Shadows
Sharon Ewell Foster
Manufacturer: Multnomah
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1576738078
Release Date: 2001-10-10

Book Description

Living in one of the most tumultuous decades of America's history, an eight-year-old African American girl experiences the anguish of real-life heartache: she loses her beloved father in the Vietnam War, endures the dissolution of her family, and faces the challenge of integration. Yet, through a wise and eccentric old woman, she also discovers the tenacity of joy. A powerful, eye-opening read!

Customer Reviews:

Awesome Summer Read.......2007-08-25

This is the first book that I have had the privilege of reading from this author, I intend to read all of Sharon E. Foster's books before the summer ends. This book starts in 1960's in St. Louis with Shirley riding on her bike in her quiet suburban neighborhood with her cousin. The story goes on to lead you through several traumatic events that eventually lands Shirley in the country with her Cousin Mother Johnson in Tyler, Texas. (this is when the story really began for me.) Shirley has been the target of "Shirley Child Killer" for many years and "Shirley Child Killer" plans to live up to his name. Mother Johnson is truly an angel sent from heaven for Shirley to help her fight the good fight. I laughed at Ma Dear and cried along with Shirley in the end like I was banging the tambourine right along with her in the "prayer house." This book takes spiritual warfare to another level, my eyes have been open and for that I will never be the same.

Prayer has always been my first weapon of choice to use against the enemy; I've always found so much power in prayer. Thanks Mrs. Foster for confirmation, another aspect of what happens when we pray and continued success to you on future writing projects.

Powerfully poignant story of faith .......2006-07-12

Riding Through Shadows by Sharon Ewell Foster deserves more than 5 stars. This almost autobiographical look at a young black girl named Shirley growing up in the 1960s South is incredibly moving. Every now and then you find a book that completely blows away your expectations of it; this is one of them. The tragic story of Shirley losing all of the foundations of her life at the young age of eight, and her returning to life under Mother Johnson is tremendously poignant. Foster's manner of storytelling is very different than anything I've read before. The story jumps between Shirley in 1986 and 1967. It also jumps into Second Heaven, but I can't say much more about that without giving away major plot elements. Another technique in Foster's writing is long conversations between characters about current events or God. The conversations ring with truth and young Shirley isn't the only one to grow while listening to them. In one such conversation, Mother Johnson talks with her friend Ma Dear about God bringing storms into our lives to bring about new growth, and we shouldn't waste our time running from them or trying to control them. I'd never thought about storms in my life that way before, but I think it's a profound statement of faith. The book ends rather abruptly, which was a disappointment, but I can't wait to start on the sequel. Foster is telling a beautiful story of tragedy; I'm looking forward to the happy ending.

Behind the Shadows is Light.......2003-07-03

Riding through Shadows by Sharon Ewell Foster is a trimphant story of a young girl named Shirley who has to overcome many obstacles to have the childhood we all deserve.

Shirley Jones is a carefree nine-year old who lives with her mother, father and her mother's two brothers (Big and Little Uncle). She likes to ride her bike around the neighborhood and is an excellent reader in school. Then tragedy strikes and after a series of events, Shirley finds herself in the care of Mother Johnson, a distant relative who lives in Texas. It is there that Shirley has to battle not only for her own life, but for the lives of the people she cares most about.

Riding through Shadows was set in the 1960's in St. Louis, Illinois and Tyler, Texas. This novel highlights the differences in race relations between the North and South and the affects it can have on the psyche of a little girl, The story opens with an adult Shirley who thinks back on her childhood however we do not find out anything else about the adult Shirley. Shirley's childhood friend, Sheri, seems to be a pivotval character in the book yet she faces the same fate as now grown Shirley. It appears these characters will be revisted in the sequel Passing into Light. Even with these oversights, I was drawn into the story to learn what happens to Shirley.

This novel is heavily based in Christian themes and teaching. It is an uplifting and inspirational read. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be reminded that the battle is not yours.

Reviewed by Nicole
APOOO BookClub

Absolutely powerful!!!.......2002-11-25

I'm so glad I didn't read the editorial review before I read any of Foster's books. I have read Ain't No River, Passing By Samaria and Riding Through Shadows. I absolutely loved Riding Through Shadows. It has a powerful message about spiritual warfare and reminds Christians that this is for real!!!. It reminded me I needed to be constant prayer, can't afford to slip up. It also reminded me of how important it is I pray for my own child. Just think of how close we've come to our breakthrough and we slacked up in the area of prayer and satan was allowed to have control in areas where he has no dominion- keep praying and God's army will do the rest. Foster took a bold step in reminding me and other readers of all of these things. I couldn't put the book down and highly recommend all her books. In fact, I'm buying my best friend all three books. Can't wait to read more from this author.

So special.......2002-06-18

I'm so glad I paid attention to the other customer reviews and ignored the editorial review. This was another very special book from Sharon Ewell Foster. I'm learning so much from her culture that I was blind to before. Yet I see so much of our shared sisterhood in the Lord. There is so much truth and wisdom and teaching.

Customer Reviews:

A valuable glimpse at 19th century African American life.......2000-11-18

I first encountered Charlotte Forten Grimke as an adult, when I read the hefty (more than 600 pages) edition of her journals published as part of the Schomburg Library of 19th Century Black Women Writers. I was captivated by her inquisitive mind and vivacious spirit, which clearly came through in her prose.

"A Free Black Girl Before the Civil War" is a selection from the journals of the young Charlotte Forten (Grimke was her married name), all written in 1854. These writings offer a fascinating glimpse into the life of an educated free black girl during the era of slavery. We learn about Charlotte's love for nature, her participation in abolitionist activities, her admiration for the pioneering African American poet Phillis Wheatley, and other topics. Editor Christy Steele and company have provided a rich and colorful assortment of study aids: photographs and illustrations from Charlotte's era, a map of the "Underground Railroad," a timeline, and other resources. At 32 pages, the book is a lot less intimidating than the adult version which I first read!

Book Description

The acclaimed civil rights leader Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) is brought vividly to life in this accessible and well-researched biography. Wells was a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and she helped black women win the right to vote. But what she is most remembered for is the success of her lifelong crusade against the practice of lynching--called by some "our nation's crime"--in the American South. She fought her battle by writing and publishing countless newspaper articles and by speaking around the world. Her outspokenness put her in grave danger many times over, but she would not be silenced, and today she is credited with ending lynching in the United States. Her story is one of courage and determination in the face of intolerance and injustice. AFTERWORD, BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX.

Customer Reviews:

An early voice.......2005-10-24

Ida B. Wells needs to be better known among the American public. This book introduces her to middle and high school students, and it is very well done. She is one of the early voices in Civil Rights.

Ida B. Wells was an African-American woman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She was born and grew up in the South, born in Mississippi during the Civil War. It is significant the impact of the legacy of slavery on her life -- she recounts how her parents, who were married as slaves, remarried each other as free persons after the war. Wells was a determined and intelligent woman -- her parents died while she was young, yet old enough to be left with the responsibility of her younger brothers and sisters. At the age of 14 she found herself at the head of a household with five younger children.

She worked hard to make sure that her education did not suffer, and eventually (a rarity for women of any colour in America at the time) went to work for a newspaper.

In an incident that foreshadowed Rosa Parks, she was once removed from a train for sitting in the wrong section, despite her ownership of a valid ticket for the seat. She sued the railroad and won (newspaper headlines read 'Darky Damsel Gets Damages' without concern for the racist tone), but the judgment was overturned on appeal, and she later discovered her lawyers had been paid off by the railroads, and the appellate judges had thought she was just being uppity to pursue the matter.

Such was the state of the African-American community that none came to her assistance as she pursued this fight. This made her more determined to organise and fight.

Several of her newspaper partners and other friends in Memphis were lynched for these efforts, and Wells was threatened herself, and left the South, but did not give up her crusade. Where ever she went, through cities and towns in the North as well as over to Europe (where, she said, she felt like she was treated as a real human being equal with others for the first time) she decried the injustice of laws which dismissed charges or gave light sentences if victims were coloured, and prosecuted more strongly, gave out harsher sentences, or even resorted to lynch mobs if the defendant (who was often not guilty) was coloured.

'She fought a lonely and almost single-handed fight, with the single-mindedness of a crusader, long before men or women of any race entered the arena, and the measure of success she achieved goes far beyond the credit she has been given the history of the country.'

She continued speaking and publishing up to her death in 1931. She was never afraid of making herself unpopular, and often upset the African-American community by being critical of their complacency (especially the upper and middle classes). She became unpopular by standing against the military service during World War I, because of prejudicial and discriminatory practices, and never quite recovered in popular esteem from that.

But Wells had courage and determination that is rare in persons, male or female, of any colour, of any time, to take on such a task as the exposition and combat of lynching in the South during the post-Civil War decades. Talking directly with governors and even a president, Wells made her voice heard, and it was a difficult hearing in a difficult time.

True American Hero.......2002-10-22

It is a travesty that the name of Ida B. Wells-Barnett is not more widely known in the most common lists of American heroes. This great woman, though little in stature, was a giant in the fight for justice and racial equality in this country. This book was a very thorough look at the life of an early champion of the civil rights movement in America. After my chilren an I read about her being physically thrown off a railcar, sueing the railroad company and actually winning her lawsuit, we could not put the book down. Although many of the discriptions and photographs were gruesome, they offered a realistic and brutally honest look at the horrors of lynching. I would recommend this book for sixth grade and up.

Eye-opening, vivid, highly recommended!.......2000-05-09

Grades 5 and up will find this an excellent biographicalcoverage of the mother of the civil rights movement, providing 178pages packed with facts and black and white illustrations. Thisexamines the life and times of Ida Wells, considering her early years, her civil rights campaign, and her anti-lynching campaign which succeeded in nearly abolishing the popular practice. An eye-opening account of not only her life, but her times. Highly recommended and vivid.

An Absolutely Outstanding Biography of an Amazing Woman.......2000-05-08

If you are not familiar with Ida B. Wells and her work, by allmeans become so immediately. I will be recommending this book toeveryone I know, and I am a children's and young adult librarian. Ida B. Wells is one of the greatest Americans of all time, and most of us have never heard of her. What she did to better the lives of African-Americans and, especially, to stop lynching, is moving, stirring, and heartbreaking. I never knew that people were burned at the stake in the USA, but they certainly were--and the crowds who came to see them die were happy to have so much fun watching "the nigger burn". A great book.

Rachel and the Riot: The Labor Movement Divides a Family (1889) (Sisters in Time #15)

Average customer rating:

Rachel and the Riot: The Labor Movement Divides a Family (1889) (Sisters in Time #15)
Susan Martins Miller
Manufacturer: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1593103557

Everything You Need to Know About the Riot Grrrl Movement: The Feminism of a New Generation (Need to Know Library)

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A good primer
4 1/2 * Grrrl Power!
Riot Grrrl for Elementary School

Everything You Need to Know About the Riot Grrrl Movement: The Feminism of a New Generation (Need to Know Library)
Cherie Turner
Manufacturer: Rosen Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0823934004

Customer Reviews:

A good primer.......2006-12-17

This book offers a solid primer on the Riot Grrrl Movement. I actually keep it on reserve for my college aged students to use. While the book is written for a younger audience, my students enjoy the book.

4 1/2 * Grrrl Power!.......2006-06-10

"The Riot Grrrl Movement: The Feminization of a New Generation" is a surprisingly sophisticated book, given its audience of adolescent and pre-adolescent girls. At times, it reads like an introductory sociology tract, unflinchingly decrying such advanced as capitalism, marginalization, victimization, and patriarchy. Simultaneously, aware that its audience may be as young as 10 or 11, it can also read like a conventional grade school textbook (!), parenthetically defining terms such as burgeoning "[growing]" and vitriolic "[hostile]." Still, `Riot Grrrl' respects its readers' intelligence. The book's strength is how it places the movement within a historical and sociological context: The intersection of punk, feminism, and increasingly younger alienated and youth.

The book's tone is realistic, informed, and ultimately hopeful, although the conclusion seems to offer an exaggerated and canned optimism: "It may not be too far-fetched to believe that Riot Grrrl will reach its ultimate goal." This vague statement contrasts also with its earlier report that the movement is better conceptualized as a collection of girls promoting "grrl love"-- generating power through mutual support"--who may have disparate and spontaneous goals: "There is no specific leader, no 10-point program," explained "Bratmobile" drummer Molly Neiman in 1992. The book founders on its heavy reliance on other sources, notably the books "Trouble Girls," Angry Women in Punk," and the wonderfully titled named "Pretty in Punk." While it's unafraid to attack capitalism and its negative effects on self-esteem and grrrl power, as well as ceding the unfortunate mainstream cooptation and commercialism, the book inexplicably fails to mention a single word about sexual orientation, gender identification, or race. (On a minor note, it presents Joan Jett as a grrl power pioneer, conveniently ignoring very male-oriented image during her most successful commercial phase.)

However, in its compact 57 pages, the book traces the roots of the movement, and presents its tangible (bands, `zines, organizations) and intangible products (attitude, self-empowerment, rebellion, and unity). Again, I would have liked to see some exploration of the diversity of the movement, and the influence of concurrent trends such as goth culture, but the author chose a more narrow focus. Fortunately, there's a bibliography (books and `zines) and list of websites for those who wish to follow-up. Despite its absolutely ridiculously high price (is this a collector's item, or something?), it's an impressive introduction, especially with the narrow age range of its prospective audience, and it genuinely captures the anger, empowerment, mutual support, and "do it yourself" ethos that helped define and propel riot grrrls everywhere.

Riot Grrrl for Elementary School.......2006-04-12

This book confused me. It's written in a rather simple format, like a book I would have read back when I was in second grade. It's presented as a sort of introduction to riot grrrl, but I don't think anyone of the reading level that it is designed for would actually be reading this book. It was so simple that it failed to keep my attention even through the first chapter. I eventually got through the book, only to find that about half of the information in this book was quotes from other books on the same subject, namely Pretty in Punk which is much better and contains much more detail. This book was odd and I didn't feel that it fully devouged into the scene that was Riot Grrrl and was such an important movement to the feminist cause. There could have been a lot more to it, and it certainly did not cover everything that I needed to know about Riot Grrrl. Maybe it was because I was already rather informed about the movement, but I knew practically everything the book was trying to tell me, so it would possibly be better for someone that was just being introduced to riot grrrl and knew absolutely nothing about the movement or its origins. If there is such a person that would like to read this book, go for it, you might learn something, but for anyone that knows anything about riot grrrl, punk, or feminism in general, you may want to choose something a bit more in depth.

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