A summer of Kings

Format:

Book

Title:

A summer of Kings

Author:

Nolan, Han.

ISBN:

9780152051082

9781415673409

9780547577302

Edition:

1st ed.

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

334 pages ; 22 cm

Summary:

Over the course of the summer of 1963, fourteen-year-old Esther Young discovers the passion within her when eighteen-year-old King-Roy Johnson, accused of murdering a white man in Alabama, comes to live with her family.

Reading Level:

12 and up.

Program Information:

Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning MG+ 5.1 12.

Subject(s):

Race relations -- Juvenile fiction.

Civil rights movements -- Juvenile fiction.

African Americans -- Juvenile fiction.

Black Muslims -- Juvenile fiction.

Race relations -- Fiction.

Civil Rights Movement -- Fiction.

African Americans -- Fiction.

Black Muslims -- Fiction.

Family life -- New York (State) -- Fiction.

Fourteen-year-old girls -- Fiction.

Fourteen-year-olds -- Fiction.

Eighteen-year-old men -- Fiction.

Eighteen-year-olds -- Fiction.

African-American teenage boys -- Fiction.

Murder suspects -- Fiction.

Fugitives -- Fiction.

Family -- Fiction.

Parent and child -- Fiction.

Parent and teenager -- Fiction.

Civil Rights Movement -- Protests, demonstrations, vigils, etc. -- Fiction.

Civil rights workers -- Fiction.

Life change events in teenagers -- Fiction.

Individuality in teenagers -- Fiction.

Self-discovery in teenage girls -- Fiction.

Self-discovery in teenage boys -- Fiction.

Self-discovery in teenagers -- Fiction.

The Sixties (20th century) -- Fiction.

Westchester County (N.Y.) -- History -- 20th century -- Juvenile fiction.

Westchester County (N.Y.) -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Westchester County (N.Y.) -- History -- 20th century -- Juvenile fiction.

Westchester County (N.Y.) -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction.

New York (State) -- Westchester County.

Genre:

Fiction.

History.

Juvenile works.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	YA Fic Nolan, H. 2006	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

It's 1963 and fourteen-year-old Esther Young is looking for excitement. Cursed with a lack of talent in a family filled with artistic types, Esther vows to get some attention by initiating a summer romance with a black teen accused of murdering a white man in Alabama.

King-Roy Johnson shows up on Esther's doorstep that summer, an angry young man who feels betrayed by the nonviolent teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. Sent north by his mother to escape a lynch mob, he meets a follower of Malcolm X's who uses radical teachings about black revolution to fuel King-Roy's anger and frustration. But with each other's help, both Esther and King-Roy learn the true nature of integrity and find the power to stand up for what is right and true.

National Book Award-winning author Han Nolan brings readers a bold new voice--by turns funny and poignant, innocent and worldly--in this powerful coming-of-age story set during the turbulent struggle for civil rights.

Author Notes

HAN NOLAN is the author of six previous highly acclaimed novels published by Harcourt.

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 6-9-Infused with rhetoric that is as meaningful today as it was two generations ago, this young teen's account of a life-changing summer not only opens a window to history, but also displays Nolan's brilliant gift for crafting profoundly appealing protagonists. Increasingly resentful of her forced role as the dim, responsible one in her gifted, well-to-do New York family, Esther acts out with increasing bitterness in a struggle to earn some respect and elbow room. Her rebellion begins to gain traction after King-Roy, the 18-year-old African-American son of her mother's childhood friend, travels up from Alabama to escape accusations that he murdered a white man. As he becomes a radicalized, tough-talking supporter of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, Esther counters by studying the words of James Baldwin, Dr. King, and Mahatma Gandhi-and finds an epiphany in Gandhi's challenge to "be the change we want to see in the world." In the end, Esther's family is persuaded by her passion to join her in the famous 1963 march in Washington, DC, and King-Roy heads back home in the wake of uglier events. What sets Esther apart from everyone else in the story-and most readers for that matter-is her ability to see the differences between her own expectations and those that are imposed from outside. Her genuineness is not only wholly admirable, but it also drives King-Roy and her parents crazy, adding a leavening of humor to her narrative's powerful mix of triumph and tragedy.-John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Nolan (Dancing on the Edge) movingly conveys a teen's introduction to the civil rights movement in this intimate story set in the summer of 1963. Esther, the daughter of a renowned New York director, has led a sheltered, unhappy existence in suburbia. Overshadowed by her highly gifted younger siblings, she feels inadequate and lonely. Esther's view of herself, her family and the world undergoes a radical change during her 14th summer when her parents agree to provide refuge for an 18-year-old African-American named King-Roy, who is accused of killing a white man (his mother and Esther's mother were childhood friends). While the adults in the household (especially Esther's eccentric Auntie Pie) remain wary about protecting a fugitive, Esther eagerly befriends their guest. Throughout the summer, she learns about injustices in the South that have caused King-Roy to become angry and mistrustful, but she disagrees with his notion, adopted by Malcolm X, that violence is the only answer to prejudice. The frequent allusions to the Nation of Islam and Martin Luther King at times can feel forced, but this thought-provoking novel will likely raise young readers' consciousness alongside Esther's, as she broadens her perspective of social ills, gains self-confidence and eventually steps out of the shadows to stand up for what she believes. If minor characters, particularly Esther's insensitive mother and bratty sister, come off as stereotypes, Esther emerges as a convincing, admirable heroine. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus Review

King Roy is the alleged murderer who comes to live with Esther's eccentric privileged family in their 30-room mansion in the summer of 1963. Daddy's a director; brother and sister are gifted child actors; and other guests, mostly related to the theater, all fail to appreciate Esther's own contributions to their world. Pip is a neighbor boy, convinced that he and Esther will marry, but in the initial scene where they scrape up roadkill to feed Auntie Pie's injured hawks, it becomes clear that independent Esther has a different idea about their future. King Roy's life in the south hasn't prepared him for his new digs, but in the process of handling his own anger and conversion to the teachings of Malcolm X, he manages not only to teach innocent Esther about some of the injustices that make up his life, but about her own power to make change happen in the world. The interaction between personal and national politics transforms ideas into emotional reality. The brilliantly portrayed cast of characters illuminates the gut-wrenching history of the time, making tangible the sorrow and hurt that is always personal. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Gr. 6-9. Overshadowed by perfect siblings and saddled with a reputation as a slow, stubborn, late bloomer, 14-year-old Esther expects the summer of 1963 to be life-changing. Her hopes are fulfilled when her parents offer a room in their Westchester, New York, mansion to an African American refugee from southern racial violence, whom some call a murderer, others a victim of prejudice and circumstance. Recently introduced to the militant teachings of Malcolm X, 18-year-old King-Ray Johnson chafes at fraternizing with white devils, but Esther's dogged overtures eventually result in a tentative, turbulent bond. Throughout, Nolan sharply evokes the questioning of a white teen suddenly shaken awake to the world, whose romantic notions are challenged by perspectives forged from generations of persecution: They're smiling out their faces, King-Ray says of northern whites, but they're still nailing you to the wall every which way they can. Despite several overplayed plot elements, idealistic readers will relate to fierce Esther's determination to join the March on Washington and realize positive change, even as the powerful, troubling conclusion resists sentimental solutions. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2006 Booklist