May B.

May B. by Caroline Starr Rose was another book that looked good at Barnes and Noble, so I found it at the library.  It's about young May, whose parents send her to help at a neighbor's homestead for a few months.  And, as the book's inside cover says, "But when a terrible turn of events leaves her all alone, she must try to find food and fuel--and courage--to make it through the approaching winter."

This was a really sweet book.  It was written in verse (similar to a favorite book of mine, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse), which made it a quick but nice read.  There was fabulous character development--I just felt like I really understood May and loved seeing how she grew throughout the story.  It was such a quick read that I wasn't involved enough to love the book, but I really liked it.

* * (2/3 = Liked it)

Glory Be

I saw Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood recently at Barnes and Noble and thought it looked good, so I checked it out at the library.  It's about 11-year-old Glory who lives in Hanging Moss, Mississippi in 1964.  As summer hits, things start to change in their town as visitors from the North come to try to give more rights to blacks in their town.  The town council closes the pool for "repairs" rather than allow blacks to swim, and Glory realizes her yearly 4th of July birthday party at the pool will be ruined.  The book follows Glory as she comes to understand the changes taking place in her town.

This was a quick read and a nice story.  It wasn't anything super unique or special; it seemed to be a lot like other books written about the time period.  I did like the characters and following how the various people in the town felt about civil rights and what was taking place.  Sometimes I got distracted in my reading because I felt like Glory didn't act the way I would really expect a girl in her situation to act.  But, it was a thought-provoking book and showed the strength it took for both blacks and whites to stand up for civil rights during this time period.

* * (2/3 = Liked it)