Hive mind, I need you.

[fabrisse]

Tutoring is happening again.

Two of my fellow mentors have asked about books for seventh graders. The kids are both studying about, and interested in, segregation laws and their repercussions. Both of them are interested in reading more, and both say they hate reading.

Can anyone recommend books appropriate for seventh graders? Books about or from the segregation era -- preferably from the black point of view -- would be especially welcome.

Does anyone think they're too young for To Kill a Mockingbird? Or that it would be bad for other reasons?

I've already suggested my favorite book from seventh grade, A Wrinkle in Time, but other suggestions, particularly with female protagonists who are quiet and studious would be great. I'd also appreciate non-fiction that's appropriate.

Comments

[kelly-girl.livejournal.com]

I loved 'Roll of Thunder hear my Cry,' when I was growing up. I reread it many times. It's told from the POV of a young black girl in Mississippi in the 30's. There are sequels to the book and they're good too.

Link

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Thank you for a great start to the list.

[snopes-faith.livejournal.com]

I loved reading "The Changeover" by Margaret Mahy which I read when I was about 12 and just adored. The plot is quite conventional sounding - young adolescent girl who is psychic has to fight to save her little brother from a vampire but the joy is in the telling. It is set in New Zealand, for one thing and the author is fantastic at using her homeland to give the novel a very definite and powerful sense of place. This is important for the book because it gives especially the creepy things this very matter of fact quality which gives her story extra believability, somehow. Tiny example, the vampire's mark is one of those novelty ink stamps.

Plus, Mahy is a thoughtful and perceptive author. I always, always remembered her insight that venting negative feelings didn't make them go away, the extra focussing on them (like, say being given a cushion to punch) just made them grow. Also, I was deeply in love with the aloof, older young male witch she allies herself with :)

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

I like the sound of that one. I'll suggest it.

[kuriadalmatia.livejournal.com]

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I asked my sister, a librarian, and here's what she suggested. The list is pretty long. She said that To Kill a Mockingbird would be good and probably age appropriate.

Title: Freedom walkers : the story of the Montgomery bus boycott
Author: Freedman, Russell.

Title: Claudette Colvin : twice toward justice
Author: Hoose, Phillip M., 1947-

Title: When will I get in?
Author: Price, Sean.

Title: Spies of Mississippi : the true story of the spy network that tried to destroy the civil rights movement
Author: Bowers, Rick, 1952-

Title: Goin' someplace special
Author: McKissack, Pat, 1944-

Title: Walking for freedom : the Montgomery bus boycott
Author: Kelso, Richard, 1942-

Title: The struggle for equal education
Author: Lusane, Clarence, 1953-

Title: Brown v. Board of Education : the battle for integration
Author: Tushnet, Mark V., 1945-

Title: Separate, but not equal : the dream and the struggle
Author: Haskins, James, 1941-

Title: The rise & fall of Jim Crow : the African-American struggle against discrimination, 1865-1954
Author: Wormser, Richard, 1933-

Title: Life under the Jim Crow laws
Author: George, Charles, 1949-

Title: Women of the civil rights movement
Author: Kallen, Stuart A., 1955-

Title: Henry Aaron's dream
Author: Tavares, Matt.

Title: White socks only
Author: Coleman, Evelyn, 1948-

Title: We shall overcome : heroes of the civil rights movement
Author: Powledge, Fred.

Title: Judy Johnson
Author: Billus, Kathleen.

Title: When the children marched : the Birmingham civil rights movement
Author: Mayer, Robert H., 1950-

Title: Great African Americans in literature
Author: Rediger, Pat, 1966-

Title: Crispus Attucks, Black leader of colonial patriots / Black Leader of Colonial Patriots
Author: Millender, Dharathula H.

Title: The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963
Author: Curtis, Christopher Paul.


Title: Satchel Paige : striking out Jim Crow
Author: Sturm, James, 1965-

Title: Alligator bayou
Author: Napoli, Donna Jo, 1948-

Title: Getting away with murder : the true story of the Emmett Till case
Author: Crowe, Chris.

Title: Birmingham Sunday
Author: Brimner, Larry Dane.

Title: Guardian
Author: Lester, Julius.

Title: My mother the cheerleader : a novel
Author: Sharenow, Robert.

Title: Black boy (American hunger) : a record of childhood and youth
Author: Wright, Richard, 1908-1960.

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

What a fabulous list. Thank you, and your sister, so much

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

If they are interested in autobiography, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" was written in 1853 by Harriet Jacobs and is available on-line. This book was edited by Lydia Maria Child, who wrote "The American Frugal Housewife."

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/JACOBS/hjhome.htm

[fabrisse.livejournal.com]

Lovely suggestion. Thank you.