Night on Fire (Freedom Rides) - Softcover

Kidd, Ronald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807570265 ISBN 13: 9780807570265

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company, 2016

Synopsis

2016-2017 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List
2016 Best Children's Book of the Year--Historical Fiction List, Bank Street College
2016 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People Grades 4-6
2017-2018 Indiana Young Hoosier Book Award Master List
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2016--CBC/NCSS
2018-2019 Volunteer State Book Award Middle School List

STARRED REVIEW! "Kidd writes with insight and restraint, creating a richly layered opus that hits every note to perfection...Beautifully written and earnestly delivered, the novel rolls to an inexorable, stunning conclusion readers won't soon forget."--Kirkus Reviews starred review

STARRED REVIEW! "Along the way, Billie comes to grips with her own prejudices, inherited from her parents, in a way that is both lyrical and honest. In a year in which news events have made it clear that the civil rights movement is far from over, titles like Kidd's have special resonance. His focus on a lesser-known historical event provides a window into the past..."--Booklist starred review

Thirteen-year-old Billie Sims doesn't think her hometown of Anniston, Alabama, should be segregated, but few of the town's residents share her opinion. As equality spreads across the country and the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum, Billie can't help but feel stuck--and helpless--in a stubborn town too set in its ways to realize that the world is passing it by. So when Billie learns that the Freedom Riders, a group of peace activists riding interstate buses to protest segregation, will be traveling through Anniston on their way to Montgomery, she thinks that maybe change is finally coming and her quiet little town will shed itself of its antiquated views. But what starts as a series of angry grumbles soon turns to brutality as Anniston residents show just how deep their racism runs. The Freedom Riders will resume their ride to Montgomery, and Billie is now faced with a choice: stand idly by in silence or take a stand for what she believes in. Through her own decisions and actions and a few unlikely friendships, Billie is about to come to grips with the deep-seated prejudice of those she once thought she knew, and with her own inherent racism that she didn't even know she had.

About this title

About the Author

Ronald Kidd is the author of fourteen novels for young readers, including the highly acclaimed Night on Fire and Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial. His novels of adventure, comedy, and mystery have received the Children's Choice Award, an Edgar Award nomination, and honors from the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library. He is a two-time O'Neill playwright who lives in Tennessee.

Edition details

• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807570265
• ISBN 13: 9780807570265
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288