Freedom Summer

Author: Deborah Wiles

Title: Freedom Summer

Book Genre: Multicultural

Publishing Info: Atheneum, 27 pp

Summary: This is a very touching story about a Caucasian boy and an African American (John Henry Waddell) boy who are best friends. John Henry’s mom, Annie May, works for the Caucasian boy’s family and rides the bus to his house every morning at 8 – John Henry comes with her! Both boys help Annie May do her work around the house by shelling butter beans and sweeping the front porch. They also swim in Fiddler’s Creek because John Henry can not swim in the town pool. At dinner the next night, the Caucasian boy’s mother makes an announcement that the town pool is now open to “everybody under the sun, no matter what color.” The next day, when the boys go to swim in the pool, they discover that the pool is being filled with asphalt. Will Rogers, John Henry’s older brother, tells them to head home. The boys decide that now John Henry can go into Mr. Mason’s store with the Caucasian boy and get his own popsicle, so they walk in together.

Personal rating: ****

Rationale: This book addresses some very long-lived cultural issues – racism. This book was obviously written back in the day where segregation was still very active. The illustrations in the book are very accurate. They actually look like paintings. I believe that it is quite interesting that the Caucasian boy in the book has no name, yet the African Americans do. That is a little ironic considering the racism lesson that the book is based on.

Reading level: 2.4

Interest level: K-6th

Thematic Areas: culture; friendship; family

Content Areas: history; language; science

Potential Problems or Difficulties: No potential problems or difficulties

Possible use in classroom: Class discussion could be about the differences in John Henry and the Caucasian child. A history lesson could be brought in by talking about the civil war and old times when segregation was active. Children could write a story and draw a picture illustrating what kind of games they like to play in the pool/creek/lake.