Tulsa Burning - Softcover

Grade 5-8-In Wekiwa, OK, in May 1921, Noble Chase, 15, struggles valiantly to live up to his name. His abusive father has died, and since the teen and his mother can't run their farm alone, she accepts a job as a live-in aide to the sheriff's ailing wife. On moving day, the unsavory, bigoted man exhibits his own violent tendencies when he shoots Noble's dog. Isaac Mitchell and his mother, who are African American, support Noble as he grapples with his new circumstances. He takes a job as a dishwasher at the local cafe, where he meets Lester Cotton, a fiercely anti-white cook who is Mrs. Mitchell's estranged husband. When the town preacher comes back from Tulsa reporting horrifying race riots in which Isaac has been hurt, Noble borrows the man's truck and enlists Lester's help, and the unlikely duo rescues a battered Isaac from a city in flames. A love interest, a wise and wily sheriff's wife, and an airplane ride flesh out this gripping novel. Noble is the best developed of the characters, though most of the central figures are sufficiently delineated. Perhaps the good folk are a little too good and the bad close to rotten; however, such is the reality of a boy's viewpoint. The plot develops with a lively, captivating pace that is sure to engage all but the most reluctant readers. Based on real events, this absorbing book is excellent for group discussions.
Jody McCoy, The Bush School, Seattle, WA
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