This moving, intimate look at America’s struggle for civil rights, as seen through the narrow lens of one growing girl, will spark interesting discussion.” In Glory herself, tilting on the threshold of adolescence, Scattergood paints a balanced portrait of childlike self interest and awakening integrity. First-time novelist Scattergood has a deft hand with characterization, fully realizing the supporting players, from Frankie, Glory’s best friend and son of the bigoted town council chief, to Jesslyn, her teenaged older sister, to Laura, a girl visiting from Ohio while her mother sets up a free clinic.
And so Glory’s summer, once a promise of happy tradition, is now fraught with unwanted change. The town council, in response, has closed the pool “for repairs,” indefinitely. Yankee “freedom people” have infiltrated the town, rousing rabble and insisting the white-only pool be desegregated. But the summer before her twelfth birthday, in 1964, Hanging Moss, Mississippi, is in turmoil, and that turmoil reaches right into Glory’s life. “Each year, Gloriana Hemphill celebrates her Fourth of July birthday at the community pool. SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, Southeast RegionĬhildren's Choice Awards list: Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont Here's an interview with Augusta: click to listen.Īmazon's Top Twenty Middle Grade Books of 2012īank Street Best Children's Books of the Year, starredĬhildren's Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Book NPR Weekend Edition, Jan 7, 2012: Scott Simon interviews Augusta.
Or maybe it’s the debate about whether or not the town should keep the segregated public pool open.Īugusta Scattergood has drawn on real-life events to create a memorable novel about family, friendship, and choices that aren’t always easy. Maybe it’s the new girl from the North that’s got everyone out of sorts. Things have always been so easy with Frankie, and now suddenly they aren’t. Jesslyn, her sister and former confidante, no longer has the time of day for her now that she’ll be entering high school. Then there’s her best friend, Frankie. A Mississippi town in 1964 gets riled when tempers flare at the segregated public pool.Īs much as Gloriana June Hemphill, or Glory as everyone knows her, wants to turn twelve, there are times when Glory wishes she could turn back the clock a year.
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