Revolution by Deborah Wiles

Revolution by Deborah Wiles (#2 in The Sixties Trilogy). Scholastic, 2014. 485 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 12-14
Maturity Level: 4 (12-15) and up

Bottom Line: Revolution uses media clips and an engaging story to introduce middle grade readers to the tumultuous sixties, focusing on the struggle for civil rights.

This is the second of the author’s series of “documentary” novels about the sixties (see Countdown), crammed with original quotes, song lyrics, news headlines, and photos, not all of which directly relate to the story about the civil rights struggle in Mississippi. Sunny Fairchild sees absolutely nothing wrong with Greenwood, her hometown, where she knows everybody and they’re all good folks. She’s had some adjusting to do since her daddy remarried; even though she doesn’t even remember her mother who walked away from the family, she refuses to call her stepmother by that title. But pressure to change has already started to bubble up under Greenwood’s genteel surface, and during the summer of 1964 it breaks out. Something called the Civil Rights Act has been passed by Congress, and it’s no longer legal to keep black citizens out of the pool or library or voting booth. White student volunteers “invade” the town in order to coach fearful blacks how to stand up and resist peacefully. Traditionalists aren’t going to take this lying down, and even though Sunny is preoccupied with hairstyles and the Beatles and VBS and goading her stepmom and getting along (or not) with her stepbrother, some of the ugliness sidles right up alongside her. Especially her peculiar, tentative relationship with Raymond, a local black boy encountered in the first chapter.

This is a finely textured, deeply nuanced story: mostly Sunny’s, but also Raymond’s. But it’s also America’s story as she stumbles through a difficult phase of her history, not always graceful but eventually right. The abundance of outside material will be a problem for some readers, as it sometimes was for me. Too much context, perhaps, in a story that adequately contextualizes itself. There’s also a plot twist at the end that feels a bit manipulative: something is implied that didn’t actually happen. But Sunny’s journey from complacency to caring is believable and relatable, and the author gives full credit to the pivotal role of the church (the black church, but also to some extent the white) in advancing the rights for African Americans.

Cautions: Violence, Language (some use of the N-word in historical documents)

Overall Value: 4.5 (out of 5)

• Moral/worldview value: 4
• Artistic value: 4.5

Categories: Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Multicultural, Discussion Starter*, Life Issues

*Discussion Questions:

• Literary element: Sunny changes a lot during the course of this story. What do you think is the most important incident that changes her? How does Raymond change (if he does)?
• Thematic element: Why does Sunny resent her stepmother so much? What view does she have of her own mother, and how does this relate to the civil rights struggle?
• Worldview element: How did the church help in the fight for civil rights?

Cover image from Amazon