Night on Fire
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
2016-2017 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List
2016 Best Children's Book of the Year—Historical Fiction List, Bank Street College
2016 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People Grades 4-6
2017-2018 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Master List
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2016—CBC/NCSS
2018-2019 Volunteer State Book Award Middle School List
STARRED REVIEW! "Kidd writes with insight and restraint, creating a richly layered opus that hits every note to perfection…Beautifully written and earnestly delivered, the novel rolls to an inexorable, stunning conclusion readers won't soon forget."—Kirkus Reviews starred review
STARRED REVIEW! "Along the way, Billie comes to grips with her own prejudices, inherited from her parents, in a way that is both lyrical and honest. In a year in which news events have made it clear that the civil rights movement is far from over, titles like Kidd's have special resonance. His focus on a lesser-known historical event provides a window into the past…"—Booklist starred review
Thirteen-year-old Billie Sims doesn't think her hometown of Anniston, Alabama, should be segregated, but few of the town's residents share her opinion. As equality spreads across the country and the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum, Billie can't help but feel stuck—and helpless—in a stubborn town too set in its ways to realize that the world is passing it by. So when Billie learns that the Freedom Riders, a group of peace activists riding interstate buses to protest segregation, will be traveling through Anniston on their way to Montgomery, she thinks that maybe change is finally coming and her quiet little town will shed itself of its antiquated views. But what starts as a series of angry grumbles soon turns to brutality as Anniston residents show just how deep their racism runs. The Freedom Riders will resume their ride to Montgomery, and Billie is now faced with a choice: stand idly by in silence or take a stand for what she believes in. Through her own decisions and actions and a few unlikely friendships, Billie is about to come to grips with the deep-seated prejudice of those she once thought she knew, and with her own inherent racism that she didn't even know she had.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a powerful historical story that confronts uncomfortable truths about racism, 13-year-old tomboy Billie Sims feels she has outgrown Anniston, Ala., where she lives with her family and their African-American maid, Lavender. It's 1961, and while Anniston is still segregated, Billie doesn't think of herself, her family, or the town as racist until the activist Freedom Riders are viciously attacked while traveling through Anniston. Billie begins to take a hard look at her family's relationship with Lavender and the reasons for continued segregation, while forging a slow connection with Jermaine, Lavender's daughter. Jermaine initially resents Billie for what she perceives as her privilege and complacence, yet they bond over career dreams and, finally, a shared goal of following the Freedom Riders to Montgomery. Kidd (The Year of the Bomb) creates strong-willed, contemplative heroines while capturing period details and the energy of the civil rights movement. As Billie acknowledges the insidiousness of the prejudice within herself and her community and makes steps toward uprooting it, her transformation is painful and profound. Ages 9 13.
