In 1958, the high schools in Little Rock, Arkansas are closed in attempt to prevent desegregation. Twelve-year-old Marlee still attends her junior high, and her father, a teacher who seems in favor of desegregation, still has his job. However, Marlee's mother, who is supposed to teach at a high school and whose position on segregation Marlee's not really sure of, reports to an empty classroom, and her sister Judy is eventually sent to live with their grandmother so she can attend school. At school, Marlee, who doesn't talk to anyone outside her family meets a new girl, Liz, who befriends her and helps her start to find her voice. However, when another classmate finds out that Liz is actually "colored," Liz has to leave school. Faced with the loss of her first real friend, Marlee starts to realize what her feelings about integration are, what friendship is worth, and that some things are worth speaking up for.
I loved this book. I loved Marlee and seeing her growth, and Liz was so smart and spunky; she was great. I loved seeing Marlee's evolving relationships with her family members, too. I loved learning more about this time in history. I'd heard about the Little Rock Nine, of course, but I don't know if I'd ever heard about the Lost Year before. I found this book to be very readable and while I found it to be so interesting just for my own reading, I wish my kids were older so I could share this book with them! This book is a great discussion book--there's a lot of stuff to talk about. This was a really powerful story.
I listened to the audiobook and I loved the narrator.
5 stars.
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