Clean Getaway by Nick Stone. 223 p. Crown Books for Young Readers/ Random House Children's Books, January, 2020. 9781983892973. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)
Middle Grade Monday features Clean Getaway by Nic Stone. Stone makes her middle grade debut here after making a splash with her YA debut, Dear Martin. William "Scoob" Lamar's spring break trip has been cancelled in the wake of being suspended from school for fighting. His strict, no-nonsense, single dad is constantly drilling into Scoob about his responsibility. So when his beloved G'Ma rings the doorbell and asks Scoob to join her for a short trip in her brand new Winnebago, Scoob jumps at the chance. He soon learns that his white grandmother is recreating a trip through the south that she made with her husband in 1963, a time when interracial marriage was not acceptable. Scoob never met his grandfather. He died before Scoob was born. While the story is often hilarious, on this trip, he learns about important landmarks in the Civil Rights movement as well as family secrets.
There is much to appreciate here. I loved Scoob's easy relationship with his G'Ma. The conflict he begins to feel when he realizes that she's not being totally straight with him is well drawn. Stone also vividly depicts the danger that Scoob's grandparents faced as they pursued their dream south.
Hand to fans of road trip books and fans of stories featuring grandparents as well as historical fiction fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment