In honor of the recent celebration of Martin
Luther King Jr.’s birthday and the current Black History Month, this next book
gives a wonderful insight into the struggle involving Civil Rights as it played
out in Arkansas. Author Kristine Levine creates a unique and sympathetic
heroine in her second novel The Lions of
Little Rock.
Twelve-year-old
Marlee can’t emphasize enough how uncomfortable she feels talking with people
outside of her immediate family. Painfully shy, she tends to classify people as
types of beverages (unlikable people are, of course, nasty drinks like cough
syrup) and is happiest doing math. So it’s a surprise to her and everyone who
knows her when she becomes friends with Liz, an exuberant new addition to her
grade at West Side Junior High. When Liz suddenly stops coming to school,
Marlee is desperate – especially when rumors begin whispering that Liz was
actually a colored girl pretending to be white. It’s now up to nervous Marlee
to stand by her new friend and speak up in her defense, even if continuing
their relationship threatens both of their families.
This
book provides an intense picture of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, and
is particularly moving due to the fact that the narrator is a young girl.
Readers receive a clear depiction of the animosity aimed at African Americans,
a rancor so fierce that it extends to even white people who sided with them.
Despite Marlee’s youth, she is not exempt from being targeted for potential violence
by racist groups and although her narration is sweet, often lighthearted, and
eventually ends happily, the effects of her experience are sobering. Levine’s
novel is a stellar fictional work based on the real-life Little Rock Nine.
Another excellent book by this author on a very similar subject (my favorite,
actually,) is The Best Bad Luck I Ever
Had.
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