Publisher's Weekly Review
Set during the Freedom Summer of 1964, the second installment of Wiles's Sixties Trilogy begins as hundreds of civil rights activists descend on the town of Greenwood, Miss. to help disenfranchised black citizens overcome voting hurdles erected by local officials. The town is grappling with racial tension, and 12-year-old Sunny Fairchild and her brother are caught in the middle during a late-night adventure at a public swimming pool that bans African-Americans-including the young Raymond, whom Sunny and her brother meet. The story makes for a superb audiobook. Chapters are interwoven with re-created sound bites of reports, speeches, and radio announcements made to sound like authentic primary sources. Asward narrates Sunny's chapters with a friendly Southern twang and youthful energy that captures the character perfectly. Battiste provides an equally engaging, and at times solemn and reflective, Raymond. Listeners will be enthralled. Ages 8-12. A Scholastic hardcover. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Wiles's complex, ambitious novel of 1964's Freedom Summer intertwines multiple perspectives, supplementing the main narrative with documentary imagery, quotes, and facsimile newspaper stories to immerse the reader in the volatile tumult of the times. This audio production employs a full cast of readers to interpret the documentary content, taking time to read headlines, sing spirituals, and spit hateful pronouncements. While that documentary interpretation is impressively authentic and stupefying, the backbone of the audiobook is the alternating narration of protagonists Sunny and Ray, performed with the same nuance and growth with which they are written. Through the narrators' honest portrayal, the characters become real people, making their reconciliation to their historical circumstances all the more powerful. thom barthelmess (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-The summer of 1964, Freedom Summer, is a time of major changes for Greenwood, MS, its residents, and the entire United States. This story is told from two perspectives: Sunny, a white girl, and Raymond, an African American boy. Sunny feels like her home has been overrun by her father's new wife, her two children, and her mother, but the grownups in town are concerned with "invaders" from the North: the young people who came to organize the black vote in Mississippi. Raymond cannot understand why, when the laws of the country have changed, the town still prohibits black citizens from swimming in the town pool, going to a movie, or eating in some restaurants. Narrators Stacey Aswad, Francois Battiste, J.D. Jackson, and Robin Miles effectively present the personalities of Sunny and Raymond, as well as secondary characters, famous speeches, advertisements, and songs from the era. VERDICT The production is riveting, fast-paced, and in turns both gently humorous and horrifying, providing an illuminating and timely glimpse into issues and events that are still very much with us today. ["With elements of family drama and coming-of-age themes that mirror the larger socio-political backdrop, Revolution is a book that lingers long in the mind after the last page": SLJ 12/14 starred review of the Scholastic book.]-Maria Salvadore, formerly Washington, DC, Public Library © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
