FREEDOM SUMMER

Freedom Summer

Written by: Deborah Wiles

Illustrated by: Jerome Lagarrigue

Simon Schuster Children’s Publishing Company, 2001

27 pages

Historical Fiction

            I have recently found a love for books containing both historical elements and friendship; therefore, I instantly knew I would enjoy reading Freedom Summer.  Just by looking at the title and the cover illustration I drew a connection and had to read it. The cover illustration displays the friendship of both a young white and black boy. Freedom summer is actually the 1964 civil rights movement organized in Mississippi to get blacks the right to vote. During the 1960’s blacks and white did everything separate. Blacks were not even allowed to enter a business through the front door and friendships between blacks and whites were thought down upon.

            With that in mind, Freedom Summer follows the story of the Joe’s summer with his best friend John Henry. John Henry is the son of the Joe’s black house keeper. The story begins by talking about the things the boys enjoy doing together such as swimming in the damn and eating ice pops. Unfortunately, John Henry is not allowed to swim in a public pool or go into the store to buy ice pops like his friend. One day the boys learn of there being a new public swimming pool that allows blacks to swim, but when boys arrive the pool is being covered. It is at that moment that John Henry shares with his friend his emotion about being separate. John Henry wanted to be able to get his own ice pop without having to go through the back door and to swim in public with Joe. Joe feels for is friend and wants nothing more than to solve all of John Henry’s problems, but that was impossible. So, the narrator hugs his friend and leads him through the front door of the ice pop shop. Together they would take a step in fighting diversity by walking through that front door together. 

            The illustrations that follow this story are hand painted and bring out the emotions that this story involves. The text, however, is placed most formally which I feel was most appropriate for this particular story. This story to me was filled with emotion and the power of friendship and the text needed to have been separate from the illustrations. The coloring for this story is primary browns, tans, and blacks for it is not the type of story in which bright coring fits well with.  I believe that the dull coloring brings out the history and time period in which this story is set. The illustrator even received the John Steptoe Award for New Talent and the Ezra Jack Keats Award for best new picture book writer of the year.

            This story would be appropriate for children of all ages; however, I would recommend it for grades second through sixth. This story would be an excellent source for an integrated lesson on history and literature. I would use this story for black history month, a discussion on civil right movements, a discussion on freedom summer, and a discussion on black rights in the 1960’s. I would also use this story for character building. I personally feel that this story is a must read and I definitely plan to include it in my future classroom’s library.