I really loved the title and metaphor that photography brought to this story of intolerance. I am fascinated anyway by the events leading up to the Civil Rights movement, and I really enjoyed the story of Sam and her beatnik (is that the right word?) mom. I'm not sure if I was irritated by the fact that she didn't appreciate her mom right away, wanting to be like the other mothers--society ladies, or if I appreciated that it was just realistic. Simplistic--kids will like it. It would almost make a good read-aloud...if it didn't talk so much about bras :) I think you'd have to know the maturity level of your class. Over the past several years, quite a few books that focus on the 1960's in the U.S. have come across my path. I am still trying to wrap my brain around the violence and hatred that percolated--and often erupted--throughout our country during that decade. Margaret McMullan's Sources of Light is one story that you will want to add to your TBR pile and let transport you behind the dark shadows that fell across Jackson, Mississippi the summer of 1962.Sam and her mother must make choices that will change the course of their lives. Will Sam fall for the wrong sort of boy? Will the girls ever accept her with her hand-me-down clothes? Will she ever understand the anger and hatred confronting the lunch-counter sit-ins and voter registration drives? Then a gift of a camera opens up the world in a new way for Sam. As she clicks the shutter and develops the pictures, she reveals truths that not every one is ready to see.
Reminded me of a YA version of The Help. I really liked all the details about photography.
—naiv_super
Great story. I recommended it to some students and they loved it, too.
—sockqueen182
Sequoyah Nominee: 2012-2013 (Intermediate)
—Lau1121
Topic: 1960s Civil Rights Movement
—deka
hi
—Mary
