The Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson

Title: The Lucky Ones
Author: Linda Williams Jackson
Publication: Candlewick Press, hardcover, 2022
Genre: Juvenile Historical Fiction
Setting: 1960s Mississippi

Description: Ellis Earl Brown is an ambitious boy who lives with his large family in rural Mississippi. Thanks to Julius Foster, a black teacher in their segregated school, Ellis Earl and his sister Carrie not only get a ride to school but also eat lunch brought by Mr. Foster.

Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin (review)

I suspect that most readers’ first reaction to this book is to marvel at the contrast between the beautifully written, descriptive prose and the dark violence of the story within. Author Minrose Gwin depicts a small town in 1963 Mississippi that is full of secrets, and ten year old Florence Forrest, who spends time on both the white and black sides of town, is exposed to most of those secrets, although she is oblivious to many of them. Gwin’s vivid description of the relentless heat of a Mississippi summer almost helps explain the inertia that affects even the decent people in town: those who know about the violence that goes on after dark but ignore it because they don’t want to get involved. I felt every trickle of sweat and scratchy layer of clothing.