The $66 Summer - Softcover

Grade 5-8-A coming-of-age story set in Alabama during the summer of 1955. George, 13, desperately wants a motorcycle, so when he gets the opportunity to work at his grandmother's store in Obadiah (three hours from home), he jumps at it. While living there, he spends time with Bennett and Esther Garrison, who are black. The three friends accidentally discover that the siblings' father, believed to have run off four years earlier, was actually murdered by a local bigot. When the truth is revealed, their house is burned down as a warning not to pursue justice. George's grandmother does not believe in segregation and tries to instill a sense of fairness in her grandson. Her strength enables him to selflessly give the $66 he has earned to Esther so that she can afford to go to the Negro high school in Adamstown. Armistead reveals the nature and cruelty of racism; at the same time, he shows that individuals can reach out to one another in times of need. The characters are made believable by their interactions and increased understanding of one another. Like Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 (Delacorte, 1995), the novel weaves a powerful message into a poignant narrative.
Tracey Ansley, Cary Academy, NC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Set in 1955 Alabama, this carefully developed first novel explores a white boy's introduction to the devastating effects of racism. The summer he turns 13, George yearns to earn enough money to buy a motorcycle and ends up staying in Obadiah with his grandmother, earning a dollar a day at her store. There he becomes reacquainted with some of the folks who live near or on his grandmother's land: two "colored" children, Esther and Bennett, whose father, Staple, ran off unexpectedly a few years ago; George's alcoholic, bigoted father's old friend, scary Mr. Vorhise, who raises fighting dogs; and Auntie Hoosilla, a disfigured old woman reputed to be a witch. Although the book is somewhat slow-going at first, introducing the players and establishing their views on race, none of it is superfluous. Stories told to George by friends and relatives provide clues about Staple's unexplained departure, a mystery that gradually becomes the central focus. Armistead's honest dialogue and believable characterizations add resonance to the timeless theme of injustice. The climax, conveying the tragic fate of Esther's and Bennett's father, will leave a searing impression. Ages 8-13. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.