Linda Williams JacksonKirja-arvosteluja

A moving story about a young girl's journey to the afterlife. Reminded me of the movie "Soul." I enjoyed it.

To start with the cover, I like it a lot even though it gives me a modern vibe that doesn't fit the book. It appears contemporary, but the book's actually set in 1967 in rural Mississippi. In this case, I think a little bait-and-switch is fine. This is a very accessible and enjoyable story that kids shouldn't be scared away from with a traditional historical fiction cover.

11-year-old Ellis Earl lives with his mother, siblings, and cousins in a shack (no electricity, no running water, never enough food). Ellis Earl's teacher goes above and beyond to help his students by driving them to and from school, taking them to church, and giving them books. When Ellis Earl receives [b:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory|6310|Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie Bucket, #1)|Roald Dahl|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309211401l/6310._SY75_.jpg|2765786] he identifies strongly with Charlie Bucket. Despite his difficult circumstances, he's full of hope for the future.

This story provides a close-up look at poverty with a sympathetic and relatable hero in Ellis Earl. This kind of story would probably be super depressing if it were written for an adult audience, but we love children's books because they often have happy endings. Ellis Earl and his family are rescued by joining a generous AME church community.

Some dialogue is written in a dialect that may be challenging for some young readers to decode, but it serves to show differences in accents. Ellis Earl has a preoccupation with speaking "properly" and often corrects his siblings' grammar. On the flip side, one of his classmates is teased for speaking "properly" which makes her hesitant to share in class.

This reminded me of [b:Bud, Not Buddy|368468|Bud, Not Buddy|Christopher Paul Curtis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388377422l/368468._SY75_.jpg|358453] (both kids are always hungry and hopeful). But it is also like a version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with very different circumstances, i.e. the chocolate factory is a church and no one gets turned into a blueberry.

A powerful novel that put me in mind of a more sophisticated [b:Stella by Starlight|22546133|Stella by Starlight|Sharon M. Draper|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1420938354s/22546133.jpg|42002485]. There are a lot of things to admire about this story: strong characters, vivid historical setting, and a moving premise. Rose faces a central question: Should I stay or should I go? Why stay in the Mississippi Delta when it's so dangerous for black people? Why stay and fight for your rights when you could get killed? How should she judge her relatives that have left Mississippi to go north? And how should she feel about those who seem to accept their lives as second-class citizens?

I would put this on par with [b:Night on Fire|25407290|Night on Fire|Ronald Kidd|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1432759913s/25407290.jpg|45161761], which was also a great eye-opener on a subject about which much has already been written. This book is not cliche-ridden. It's not about a perfectly heroic kid overcoming inequality. It's a coming-of-age story about a realistically scared and unsure 13-year-old kid discovering how the world works and trying to decide her place in it.

This is a middle grade book for a relatively mature reader. Someone who can understand how colorism (the privileging of light skin over dark) lives alongside racism. Someone who can understand why the n-word is used both casually and dramatically throughout the book. Someone who can understand how different generations of African American families can feel so differently about white terrorism. It is challenging to read some of the dialect. It is challenging to keep some of the characters straight because they are referred to by different names. It would be helpful to go into this book knowing the story of Emmett Till (so they know it's not fictional). Obviously, there's a lot of violence - not just white terrorism but also domestic violence in Rose's family. It would be a great book club book because there is so much fodder for discussion and analysis.

I took a star off for a few clunky didactic parts that took me out of the story. For example, on page 260, Monty rattles off a pretty long quote from the Emmett Till trial. Later he rattles off the origins of the name Rosa. On page 272 Rose says Monty is a "walking, talking Encyclopedia Britannica." In other words, he's conveniently there to inform the reader. But this is a pretty minor quibble.

I will certainly pick up the sequel and I hope there are many great books to come from Linda Williams Jackson.

independent reading level: 8-12
awards: none listed

The book “Midnight without a Moon” by Linda Jackson is about a 13 year old girl named Rose Carter. She grew up in the south during segregation. This book is based a true story. The intended audience for this book is 10-12 year olds.

I enjoyed this book and was happy to see a "new" book on the topic(s) for this age group. I think my expectations might have been a bit too high. It would probably be a good book to teach in a classroom, and there is a guide on the publisher's website. The underlying storylines and themes are a good way to tell their story (especially about the idea of a "poverty tour." "Hearing" this story and history through Ellis Earl (as an 11 year old) might make it more accessible to the target reading group. (Like others, I didn't love how neat and tidy the ending of the book was.)

This historical fiction chapter book, aimed at ages 8-12, is set in rural Mississippi in 1967.  Ellis Earl Brown, age 11, is one of the nine children of a single African-American mother.  They live in a three-room house with no electricity or plumbing.

Only Ellis and one sister go to school - the older children all work (either outside the home or caring for their younger siblings), or are too ill or too young to attend.  Ellis' African-American teacher, Mr. Foster, helps him (and his family) by providing rides to and from school, and leftover meals from lunches.  Unlike his older siblings, Ellis *wants* to stay in school, and Mr. Foster encourages him.

Ellis is one of the students selected by Mr. Foster to go to the Jackson airport to see Bobby Kennedy, who has come to the Mississippi Delta to see the poverty stricken area firsthand.  Some of the experiences the children have on this trip will be eye-opening for some readers.

Although everything works out a little too neatly in the end, overall, I think this is a good book for grades 4-8.  A classroom discussion guide is available on the publisher's website.  Author Linda Williams Jackson incorporated rich details from her own childhood in the Mississippi Delta in this time period.½

t’s Mississippi in the summer of 1955, and Rose Lee Carter can’t wait to move north. For now, she’s living with her sharecropper grandparents on a white man’s cotton plantation. Then, one town over, an African American boy, Emmett Till, is killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman. When Till’s murderers are unjustly acquitted, Rose realizes that the South needs a change and that she should be part of the movement. Linda Jackson’s moving debut seamlessly blends a fictional portrait of an African American family and factual events from a famous trial that provoked change in race relations in the United States.

The Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson is one of the best books I have read in several months. The story is deeply touching and the characters are so well rounded I instantly felt drawn in to the story. I also found the book is easily readable by all ages, and even 3rd grade onward would be enriched by reading it. I am certain this book will be an instant classic. Highly recommend it.

A poignant look at one family's poverty during Robert Kennedy's poverty tour of the Mississppi Delta in 1967. Nicely written with an old-fashioned feel to it.

I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for a review.
Ellis Earl lives in poverty-stricken Mississippi in the late 1960's. His family is poor. Eight people living in a three-room house. Constant hunger is their life. Ellis Earl's father was killed in a farming accident and his mother and older brothers work menial jobs to put food on the table. They literally work just to be able to eat. They have no electricity. No running water. No indoor bathroom.
But Ellis Earl has plans. He's going to be a teacher and a lawyer and a writer. His only hope is his teacher, Mr. Foster. Mr. Foster brings extra food to school to share with his students. He buys them clothes, loans them books, shares so much with them.
He picks up Ellis Earl and some of his classmates and they head to Jackson to see Bobby Kennedy who will be touring the south to see, firsthand, the poverty stricken area.
Ellis Earl was a bit difficult to like at first; while he was a caring and responsible brother, he tended to be judgmental of his siblings. As the book moves into the story, you see him changing and learning. And, ultimately, you know he will make it.

I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent book that gives us a glimpse of the poverty of Mississippi in the mid 1960s.

Spoiler alert

Ellis Earl is is a smart young man who’s family lives life one day at a time, attempting to eek out enough money just to put food on the table. Earl is inspired by his teacher, Mr. Foster and a female lawyer who is determined to call attention to the problems of those living in poverty. When Senator Bobby Kennedy comes to Mississippi to see for himself, he winds up visiting Ellis Earl at home.

The only problem I had with the book was that, in the end, everything worked out. The Brown family moved to a new to them home, with running water, electricity, and several rooms. They are finally able to get food stamps and the older children are becoming successful so mama no longer has to work. Life just doesn’t wrap things up in a nice little package like that, tho it does leave a feel good feeling as an ending.

I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

This book is a wonderfully charming middle grade historical fiction. Ellis Earl, our protagonist, is the right mixture of bright yet fallible, giving yet selfish at times - evading the perfect protagonist trope that is one of my major gripes with children's literature. The particular time and place covered by the book is one that is very often left out of even adult historical fiction, and viewing it through a child's eyes was a refreshing change of pace. It also touches on concepts that many children still deal with today: racism from adults, poverty, hunger, inadequate shelter. Jackson does not gloss over these topics at all; instead, the reader is given a truthful inside look from a child who is living it day by day.

I've docked half a star because I found that Ellis Earl sometimes either understood big concepts a little too easily or didn't understand small things an eleven-year-old should, but honestly, it wasn't enough to take me out of the story.

Overall, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did, and it's already one of my favorites for the year. I imagine many children today will find camaraderie with Ellis Earl the same way he did with Charlie Bucket.½

Rosa is a 13 year old girl living with her sharecropping grandparents in Mississippi during Jim Crow. Society dictates a narrow path for her life but she is intelligent and resistant to its strict influence.

This would have been a two-star book, but it got an extra star because the subject matter is important.

Here's what didn't work:

1. The dialect: Using dialect in written dialogue helps establish character and denote time and place. Here, however, it was heavy-handed and more distracting than illuminating.

2. Rose: She spent the entire book wanting nothing more than to leave her small Mississippi town, but, at the very end, with no real explanation, she chooses to stay.

3. Rose's name: In a book about the spark that lit the fire of the Civil Rights movement, calling your protagonist "Rosa" is a little too on-the-nose.

4. The age level: Some of the subject matter and language seemed more appropriate for an older readership (the book's age range is indicated by the publisher as 10-12), but Rose herself often spoke and acted younger than her 13 years. At the very least, this is an upper middle-grade novel, more suited for a 12-14 readership. But, even then, Rose needs to truly be a thirteen-year-old and not continually act like a ten- or eleven-year-old.

5. The self-importance: The subject matter of this book is important, yes, but it was one of those books where you felt the author may have had an over-inflated sense of exactly how important and it leaked through to the writing itself.

6. Info-dumping: There were a lot of explanatory passages where the information imparted may have been better delivered in an author's note or glossary at the end.

As I've mentioned (several times), this book deals with important subject matter and will probably find a place in many classrooms and school libraries. As a book that one would pick up just to read for pleasure, though, it fell short. It's possible for historical fiction to entertain while educating and, for me, this book did not accomplish that feat.

MIDNIGHT WITHOUT A MOON by Linda Williams Jackson is a work of historical fiction exploring the lives of African Americans of the Jim Crow South.

Set in the summer of 1955, Rose Lee and her family experience life in Mississippi and the prospect of moving north. Weaving in real events about a famous trial with fictional stories set in an African American family, the story blends fact and fiction to immerse readers in the time period.

Librarians will find the connection with a real historical event adds interest to this middle grade novel. The sympathetic characters and historical backdrop make it perfect for classroom activities revolving around the Jim Crow era.

Published by HMH Books for Young Readers on January 3, 2017. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

This book was provided to me as an advance reader copy by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

It’s Mississippi in the summer of 1955, and Rose Lee Carter can’t wait to move north. But for now, she’s living with her sharecropper grandparents on a white man’s cotton plantation. Then, one town over, an African American boy, Emmett Till, is killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman. When Till’s murderers are unjustly acquitted, Rose realizes that the South needs a change . . . and that she should be part of the movement.

I have been reading for a long time, and have easily read thousands of books. It’s not unusual for a story to make me cry, rage, laugh, or sigh, but it is unicorn rare for a book to actually inspire me to re-think my stand on social issues. Midnight Without Moon is, by turns, poetic, heartbreaking, frustrating, and beautiful.
The life of Rose Lee Carter is hard. At 13, she works harder than most grown adults today could relate to. She faces emotional and physical abuse daily, both at home and at the hands of strangers. Her life is continually at risk because of the color of her skin. Despite all this, she never stops dreaming of having a better life. Whenever she plans for this life however, her imagination always takes her north and out of Mississippi, because she’s been taught that nothing can ever change in Mississippi. But what if things can change? What if all that’s needed is a refusal to back down? These are the ideas that Rose begins to ponder, and these are the ideas that ultimately reshape her thinking regarding what it means to be free.
I would recommend this book to readers of all ages, and suggest it be including in any middle school lesson on race relations and the civil rights movement.