Glory Be

GLORY BE by Augusta Scattergood (Scholastic, January 2012) examines the vestiges of racism in the South in the 1960s. Gloriana, Glory, is just shy of her 12th birthday which happens to fall on the Fourth of July. She hopes to be able to celebrate it at the community pool as she has in the past. However, some of the town leaders have decided to close the pool in order to avoid allowing Negroes to swim there. Some of the town residents resent the Freedom workers who have come to Hanging Moss, Mississippi, to help Negroes register to vote. There is palpable tension in the air. Glory writes a heartfelt letter to the editor of the local paper decrying the narrowmindedness that is keeping the pool closed and minds closed as well. Glory does not see herself as an activist, but that is indeed what she is becoming. Of course, she is also preoccupied with her older sister's sneaky visits out at night, with her own relationship with a lifelong friend, and with the other usual troubles and triumphs of being on the verge of young adulthood. Team this book up with A THOUSAND NEVER EVERS by Shauna Berg and A SUMMER OF KINGS by Han Nolan to name just a couple of other excellent books set in this era. <43>