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The Rock and the River
By Magoon, Kekla
Publishers Summary:
- ISBN
- 978-1-41697-582-3
- Publisher
REVIEWS
School Library Journal
Reviewed on February 1, 2009
Gr 7-Up Sam Childs, 13, is growing up in Chicago in 1968. His father is a civil rights activist, and the boy has been involved in peaceful demonstrations with his family. When he and his girlfriend, Maxie, witness the brutal beating of a friend at the hands of the police, his world begins to change dramatically. His 17-year-old brother brings a gun home and hides it in their shared room. Next thing Sam knows, Stick has run away f...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Guide
Reviewed on January 1, 2009
Chicago, 1968: Sam's father is a well-known nonviolent civil rights activist, while Sam's brother has joined the Black Panth...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Junior Library Guild
Reviewed on May 1, 2009
The Rock and the River provides a fresh take on the civil rights movement. Rather than writing only about the division between blacks and whites, debut author Kekla Magoon concentrates on a less-explored aspect of the time period, the split between blacks who practiced nonviolent resistance and those who attempted violent revolution. Most of the novel focuses on Sam’s moral dilemma, whether to use or to avoid violence. As Sam reads a Black Panther newspaper that outlines the group’s goals, he thinks, “It was so completely the op...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
