From the Publisher
A beautifully written story about the power of friendship in the face of racism
Jo Clawson isn’t the boy her father wanted, and she’s not the young “lady” her neighbors expect of the preacher’s daughter, either. But even though Jo doesn’t always meet the expectations of the people around her, she still longs to fit in. When she and her family leave their northern home for the small southern town of Jericho, Alabama, Jo might finally stop picking fights and settle in right.
But when Jo befriends a young black boy, she discovers that “fitting in” is about a lot more than proper manners or a new outfit. Suddenly she’s faced with a new set of questions that call up her own values. Maybe some fights are worth picking after all. Set in 1957, at the dawn of the civil rights movement, this riveting novel tells the inspiring story of a young girl growing up amidst racism.
Publishers Weekly
In her first novel, set in 1957, Collier creates a compelling narrative voice in Jo Clawson, a spirited 11-year-old from the North who attempts to negotiate the racial divisions in a small South Carolina town. Jo's mother, a strong woman with Cherokee roots, is even more open-minded than Jo; it is from her more conservative father, a Baptist preacher who has recently moved the family to Jericho, his birthplace, that Jo seeks and finally gains acceptance. Collier juxtaposes Jo's struggle to make friends among the white girls of her age with her gentle but secret friendship with Lucas, the son of the Clawsons' "colored" maid. The white girls ridicule Jo when she unknowingly drinks out of the "colored" water fountain, and she tries to impress them by misbehaving at Sunday school. Meanwhile, Lucas's help when she injures herself earns Jo a sharp reproof for associating with a "colored" boy. While Collier captures tensions within Jo's family and within the community, Jo's confrontation of those tensions seems at times more sophisticated than her years might allow, such as when she quotes Scripture to rebuke a hypocritical group of deacons visiting her father. Jo's decision to help Lucas and his brother take a political stand in order to obtain a library card, landing her temporarily in jail, also strains believability. Like the mockingbird that figures in a somewhat overdone motif here, the author strikes the right notes, but she hits them a little too hard. Ages 9-14. (Apr.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Amanda Lang, Teen Reviewer
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VOYA
I enjoyed this book because it is easy to understand. Jo is frustrated with segregation, and she is in turmoil over who her real friends are. Jo is caught in the middle of many situations. The end of the book does not tell all, which allows you to come to your own conclusions. VOYA CODES: 4Q 2P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2002, Henry Holt, 224p,
School Library Journal
Gr 5-6-Josephine, a preacher's daughter, is growing up in the rural South of the 1950s, where segregation is firmly entrenched. Her family has just moved to Jericho, SC, and the sixth grader desperately wants to fit in and be popular, but her father requires "proper" behavior that conflicts with her desires. Reciting Bible memory verses is particularly distressing for her because the kids ridicule her. As she learns about her town's unwritten race laws, Jo's reactions progress from fear to confusion, and, finally, to anger. Although she tries to participate in girlish games, she realizes that she would rather go to the library or do things with Lucas, the son of their black housekeeper. Predictably, Jo endures heartache and even some jail time as she begins an equal-rights crusade. Her adventures, particularly her library sit-in, choosing Lucas over the girls for a friend, and going swimming in a "coloreds only" area, will have great impact on readers. However, the author refers only obliquely to national events taking place at this time in her descriptions of the local racial tension surrounding the protagonist. Jo's struggle for individualism and her love of adventure will echo readers' own feelings, and background information describing life in the small town is sufficient to understand existing prejudices. However, the unimaginative and predictable plot detracts from the book's overall effectiveness. Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 (Delacorte, 1995), Mildred D. Taylor's Let the Circle Be Unbroken (Dial, 1981), and Carolyn Meyer's White Lilacs (Harcourt, 1993) are better choices for understanding this period.-Susan Cooley, Tower Hill School, Wilmington, DE Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Another memorable preacher's child steps on to the stage in this promising debut. The time: the second half of 1957. The place: a small town in rural South Carolina. Josephine Clawson is dreading yet another first Sunday in a new parish. She is not by any definition a model child, but one who-thoughtful, loving, and honest-would be quite comfortable in the company of Suzanne Newton's Neal Sloan (I Will Call It Georgie's Blues, 1983) or Kate DiCamillo's Opal (Because of Winn-Dixie, 2000). The Clawson family has moved from Illinois to Jericho, Josephine's father's hometown, where he's accepted a call to the ministry. For Josephine, the adjustment is very difficult. In addition to the normal problems faced by any girl of her age, like trying to fit in and make friends in a new town, she must face her own personal demons. She lies in an attempt to become popular and struggles with internal and external pressures to conform. She also faces the confusion and conflicts posed by the times and culture, including Jim Crow laws and strict constraints imposed on females. And she senses, but doesn't fully understand, newly arisen tensions between her parents. Plot elements are framed by the turmoil caused by the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock. Josephine sees and is outraged by the injustices of segregation and finally begins to base her behavior on her sense of justice and moral standards. The story's climax is realistic, providing neither pat answers nor simplistic resolutions, but making it clear that actions based on moral choices may have unpredictable outcomes. As with the best historical fiction, this breathes life into an important era in US history. It will give youthfulreaders information on a level deeper than that offered by mere dates and facts and will lend itself to discussion. (Fiction. 10-12)
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