bookshelf

A TUGGING STRING

Name: A TUGGING STRING
Author: David T. Greenberg
ISBN: 978-0-525-47967-3

A NOVEL ABOUT GROWING UP DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA

by David T. Greenberg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2008

bookshelf

Although it’s squarely focused on the events that culminate in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., this novel isn’t quite so sure of its genre. Moving abruptly from memoir to history to fiction, it never finds its fit. Greenberg, the son of influential civil-rights lawyer Jack Greenberg, attempts to show how the events of the 1960s both destabilized his family and changed the nation. His highly fictionalized account explores both his own family’s travails and those of the Miltons, a fictional African-American couple whose experiences are meant to be emblematic of life under Jim Crow. The book succeeds when it shares intimate family moments, but too often it resorts to long passages of expository dialogue and fiddles with the facts to make the plot work. A concluding note attempts to separate fact from fiction and in so doing makes readers wonder why the author didn’t simply tell his family’s story and let such works as Diane McWhorter’s A Dream of Freedom (2004) tell others. (afterword, footnotes) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-525-47967-3

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2008

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ENCHANTED LIONS
by David T. Greenberg and illustrated by Kristina Swarner

- BOOK REVIEW
CROCS!
by David T. Greenberg & illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BOOK OF BOYS (FOR GIRLS) & THE BOOK OF GIRLS (FOR BOYS)
by David T. Greenberg & illustrated by Joy Allen

bookshelf

THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

bookshelf

Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)