Revolution

My first #BookADay for Summer 2014 was Revolution by Deborah Wiles.  I read Countdown when it first came out in 2010 and I was excited that it was the first of three books in a 1960s trilogy.  If you've read either of these books, you will immediately know why there was so much time in between the two...the amount of research Deborah Wiles does for these book is on another level.  I think this is why these books are so appealing. Throughout the book, there are snippets of the world at that time.  Photographs.  Song lyrics.  Quotations.  Advertisements.  All of these additions really bring the book alive.

The summer of 1964 is a turning point of the Civil Rights Movement.  Freedom Summer.  For 12 year old Sunny, it is a summer of change and growing into her own skin and deciding what kind of person she is going to be.  

It starts with a chance encounter in the community pool in the middle of a summer night.  Then come the "Invaders".  Then her beloved pool is closed down.  There is picketing in the street.  There is a new girl from the North who reminds her of her mother.  And through it all, she encounters the boy from the pool over and over again.  Without even knowing him, she becomes more and more curious and confused about what is happening in her town.  

One thing I loved most about this book was Sunny's voice.  I loved everything about her.  She was slightly mischievous but her heart was in the right place.  She is haunted by the disappearance of her mother when she was a baby.  She is trying to figure out where she fits in with her new step-family.  She's trying to understand what has happened to her town.

This would be a perfect book for anyone who has enjoyed The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine or Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood.

I don't know what the topic of the third book in this trilogy will be, but I will certainly be ready to read it!  

Have you read Revolution?  I'd love to know what you think!