Revolution (The Sixties Trilogy, #2) in Mock Newbery 2026

Nov 18, 2013 Monica Edinger rated it it was amazing

My educating alice review:

Deborah Wiles' Sixties Trilogy is set in the time of hers (and my) youth. The first book, Countdown , is a vivid, compelling, and moving view of the Cuban Missile Crisis seen through the eyes of eleven-year-old Franny and was, I thought, splendid causing me to wait on tenterhooks for the next one. When I saw that the second book was coming out this year I was both elated and nervous. Could Wiles pull it off again?

Here's my tweet after reading it:

Monica Edinger ‏@m

My educating alice review:

Deborah Wiles' Sixties Trilogy is set in the time of hers (and my) youth. The first book, Countdown , is a vivid, compelling, and moving view of the Cuban Missile Crisis seen through the eyes of eleven-year-old Franny and was, I thought, splendid causing me to wait on tenterhooks for the next one. When I saw that the second book was coming out this year I was both elated and nervous. Could Wiles pull it off again?

Here's my tweet after reading it:

Monica Edinger ‏@medinger Mar 31 I spent most of the weekend reading @deborahwiles's Revolution and it is fabulous.

So, yes, Wiles pulled it off again. In spades.

Revolution is set during the civil right movement's Freedom Summer of 1964. Two smart young people are at the center of the novel, observing and wondering and questioning the vicious racism and segregation that has ruled their Mississippi community for so long. We meet our protagonist, white twelve-year-old Sunny as she and her slightly older step-brother take an illicit nighttime dip in the municipal pool. Relishing the cool water and thrill of doing something slightly dangerous, Sunny is mulling over the pleasures of the forthcoming lazy summer when she has an encounter that jerks her out of reverie and onto a path of profound knowledge and change. It is a path that Raymond also travels, a boy all too aware of what it means to be young and black in 1964 Greenwood, and who wants to do something about it.

Greenwood has been filled with "invaders" as Sunny calls them, young civil rights activists who have come to do voter registration, set up Freedom Schools, and otherwise support local blacks in gaining their rights. Wiles does a superb job weaving in the many threads of life for white and black Greenwood citizens at this time, powerfullyv and, sometimes brutally, evoking real life events. She also brings in wider pieces of the time, the Vietnam War, the Beatles, and Willie Mays among others.

Sunny and Raymond are beautifully drawn --- highly believable young people of their time and place. There isn't a false note.Those around them are nuanced too, from the young northern civil rights workers to those in both of the young people's families who are responding in different believable ways to the changing events. And Wiles excelles at sensory detail, giving readers the sounds of the young people's different neighborhoods, the feeling of summer heat, those fans and the occasional air conditioner, the shiny floors of the courthouse, and much more. Using present tense, she creates scenes of drama and action and others that are quiet and pensive, all moving and unforgettable.

Then there is the nonfiction material that, as in Countdown, is interspersed throughout. Photos, quotes, excerpts from documents and news articles, song lyrics, and more are evocatively presented, deepening and making even more real what is going on around Sunny and Raymond. The back matter offers more along with a solid bibliography. But for those who want to actually hear and see more I encourage them to explore Wile's pinterest page.

Revolution is one spectacular novel. I highly, highly recommend it.

...more

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Jan 10, 2015 Kris Springer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015-newbery-reads

An amazing, moving book about Freedom Summer 1964, in Greenwood, Mississippi. A fascinating hybrid of nonfiction and fiction, Wiles blends a historical fiction story about a 12 year old girl and her family with the story of a 12 year old African American boy and blends that with images, song lyrics and information about racial relations, civil rights, the Vietnam War, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Muhammad Ali, and more. More than any other book I've read about the early 60s, this one helped me more fu ...more

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Dec 28, 2014 Jean rated it it was amazing

I loved the first book in this series and the second book does not disappoint. The second book in the series focuses on the summer of 1964, the year called Freedom Summer in Mississippi. The author once again includes photos, song lyrics, and news articles which add authenticity. I kept thinking while I was reading this that every child in Mississippi should read this book to see what people had to go through to change history and voting rights.

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Jan 28, 2015 Ramona rated it it was amazing

I was so amazed and impressed by this book! I never read Countdown so I wasn't really expecting anything like this. The use of fiction blended with historical documents, photos and nonfiction biographical narratives was awesome and everything fit together so seamlessly. It made me think about how teachers and librarians talk about creating text sets for use in Common Core education -- putting together fiction, nonfiction and primary sources on the same subject. This book is like a text set in on ...more

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Mar 17, 2015 Alicia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, ya, 2014

This is a wonderful historical novel. I found the printed version a little busy but once I got into it I flew through the novel. There were some wonderful historical quotes. Don't skip over them to get to the meat of the story. They are worth savoring.

It was interesting to compare how states acted with regard to civil rights laws and how similar it is ti the current marriage rights laws. ...more

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Sep 25, 2013 Kristine rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-own, firstreads-netgalley, childrens-chapter, mock-newbery, true-life-stories, political-biz-econ-ish, historical-fiction, civil-rights-slavery, national-book-award-ish

for all the buzz this book has been getting, I think my expectations were way too high. Countdown is one of my favorite books, and for some reason I didn't connect with Revolution in the same way I did with Countdown. I didn't connect with Sunny and her story or the other characters, but all of the pictures and non-fiction anecdotes interspersed amongst the story? 5 Stars. They often left me in tears. Staring into the faces of those brave men and women involved in the Freedom Summer in Mississip ...more

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Feb 17, 2015 Shari (Shira) rated it really liked it

Shelves: childrensbooks, nonfiction, african-americans, favorites, historical-fiction

It's 1964. The Beatles have invaded the U.S. A. Greenwood, Mississippi is being invaded by students from northern universities, trying to get the "coloreds" registered to vote. Twelve-year-old Sunny is trying to make sense of it along with all of the changes in her life: a new stepmother, stepbrother, stepsister and step-grandmother. This genre-bending book includes news stories, social commentaries, speeches, and music from the era. What an inspiring way for children to learn about the civil ri ...more

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Jun 18, 2014 Tamsyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-of-the-year, youngadult, history, books-that-teach, historical-fiction, mock-newbery, fms, unconventional-format

The second book in the Sixties trilogy, Revolution, lived up to and exceeded my expectations. Complex and well-paced, Wiles presents many facets of the race relations centered on Greenwood Mississippi in the summer of 1964. As with the first book, the story is supplemented and supported by photos, quotes, songs, and mini bios of the people in action at that time. Will need more time to let it sift through me.

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Jan 02, 2014 Mary Lee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, knock-my-socks-off, empathy, 2014

#summerbookaday -- 5

Wow. Just...wow.

And at the same time I read this, I'm reading/listening to THE BOOK THIEF and the resonance of the Hans Hubermans throughout time and place and injustices in the world just brings a person to their knees and asks you to do more and be better... ...more

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Jun 25, 2014 Robynn marked it as to-read

This was the 2014 July read for goodread's Mock Newbery group ...more

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Dec 19, 2020 Whitney rated it it was amazing

I loved this one even more than Countdown. I loved seeing the connections between the two books, but also seeing time progress. The story is powerful, and the primary source documents add so much to the telling.

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Jul 08, 2014 Erin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: junior-fiction

So good. Original source material. Freedom Summer from the perspective of a 12 year old white girl and a 14 year old African American boy. One of those books everyone should read.

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