Freedom Songs

Readers interested in the civil rights movement will be touched and enlightened by this first novel about a black Northerner's growing awareness of the problems of segregation in the South. During the spring of 1968, Sheryl Williams, 14, confronts harsh realities while visiting relatives in North Carolina. After witnessing--and then experiencing--acts of prejudice, she understands why Uncle Pete and some neighbors have joined the freedom riders, a group of protesters practicing methods taught by Martin Luther King. Once home in Brooklyn, N.Y., Sheryl decides to collect money for the group by holding a benefit concert with her friends, but before she can carry out her plans, Uncle Pete is killed by a bomb. Working harder than ever, the grief-stricken girl and her schoolmates raise more than $5000 and continue their campaign by making the concert an annual event. In the tradition of Mildred Taylor, Moore presents an authentic, disturbing slice of black American history as she traces an impressionable heroine's changing perceptions. Although the story is set nearly 30 years ago, its themes regarding injustice, oppression and nonviolent forms of resistance remain relevant today. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)