Midnight Without a Moon

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 8, 2017

Review

This is historical fiction at its best. Aimed at upper middle grade and high school readers, this story is set in Mississippi in 1955 at a time before voting protections and the Civil Rights Movement. Told through 13-year-old Rose Lee, the story follows the goings-on of her family: poor, black sharecroppers who work the land of a white plantation owner in a deeply segregated southern town. Rose lives under the iron rule of her grandmother Sweet Pearl. Rose's grandparents have been picking cotton for white Mr. Robinson their entire adult lives and they accept the order of the world where a person with brown skin is less than a person with white skin. The NAACP is on the rise and "stirring up trouble" down in Mississip. The book opens with an intense scene in which Rose is chased off the road by the pick-up truck driven by a white teenager. The intensity never does let up. With the haunting facts of the Emmett Till case right at their doorstep, Rose starts to see that things are not right with the world, and that a shift in the world order could be coming. She is also awakened to the idea that her "midnight without a moon" black skin is beautiful and that she has worth and can make a difference in the world, if she is brave enough to stay and fight. This type of book is made more powerful by discussion and it is one of those MG titles that would benefit adults. It is a powerful read that does not sugar coat the reality for a black person during this time. There are mentions of shootings, lynchings, teen pregnancy, and domestic abuse - all well within the context of the story, but could be tough for student readers. A stellar debut from Jackson!

Overall Book Score: excellent