Glory Be [Hardcover]

Augusta Scattergood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2012 | Age Range: 8 and up | Lexile Measure: 680L (What's this?)

A Mississippi town in 1964 gets riled when tempers flare at the segregated public pool.

As much as Gloriana June Hemphill, or Glory as everyone knows her, wants to turn twelve, there are times when Glory wishes she could turn back the clock a year. Jesslyn, her sister and former confidante, no longer has the time of day for her now that she’ll be entering high school. Then there’s her best friend, Frankie. Things have always been so easy with Frankie, and now suddenly they aren’t. Maybe it’s the new girl from the North that’s got everyone out of sorts. Or maybe it’s the debate about whether or not the town should keep the segregated public pool open.

Augusta Scattergood has drawn on real-life events to create a memorable novel about family, friendship, and choices that aren’t always easy.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Each year, Gloriana Hemphill celebrates her Fourth of July birthday at the community pool. But the summer before her twelfth birthday, in 1964, Hanging Moss, Mississippi, is in turmoil, and that turmoil reaches right into Glory’s life. Yankee “freedom people” have infiltrated the town, rousing rabble and insisting the white-only pool be desegregated. The town council, in response, has closed the pool “for repairs,” indefinitely. And so Glory’s summer, once a promise of happy tradition, is now fraught with unwanted change. First-time novelist Scattergood has a deft hand with characterization, fully realizing the supporting players, from Frankie, Glory’s best friend and son of the bigoted town council chief, to Jesslyn, her teenaged older sister, to Laura, a girl visiting from Ohio while her mother sets up a free clinic. In Glory herself, tilting on the threshold of adolescence, Scattergood paints a balanced portrait of childlike self-interest and awakening integrity. This moving, intimate look at America’s struggle for civil rights, as seen through the narrow lens of one growing girl, will spark interesting discussion. Grades 3-6. --Thom Barthelmess

Review

Praise for Glory Be

"Scattergood's effective snapshot of the fight against segregation, one town at a time, makes personal the tumultuous atmosphere of the times." —Publishers Weekly

"This moving, intimate look at America's struggle for civil rights, as seen through the narrow lens of one growing girl, will spark interesting discussion." —Booklist

"This coming-of-age story offers a fresh, youthful perspective on a pivotal civil rights period...Glory is an appealing, authentic character whose unflinching convictions, missteps, and reflections will captivate readers." —School Library Journal

"Judging by the way my daughter leaped on the book, Glory Be should appeal to the same 12-and-under fans of the Dear Canada faux historical diary series...I join my daughter — who is only on Page 90, but is already drafting her own glowing review of the book for her school paper, and who plans to propose the title to our mother-daughter book club — in encouraging you to read Glory Be with your own children." —The Montreal Gazette

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (January 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545331803
• ISBN-13: 978-0545331807
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Prejudice & Racism
  • #20 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Multicultural Stories > African-American
  • #83 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > United States

More About the Author

Augusta Russel Scattergood grew up in a small town in Mississippi. She has since lived in North Carolina, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Florida- twice! Although if anybody asks where she's from, Mississippi would be the answer.

Augusta is former school librarian, a book reviewer and an avid blogger. GLORY BE, her debut novel, was named one of Amazon's Top Twenty Middle School books for 2012. A second novel has been sold to Scholastic for Fall, 2014 publication.

For more information, please visit her website: http://www.augustascattergood.com/

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book! January 4, 2012

By A Mississippi reader

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This author tackled a painful subject, one that isn't being taught in many schools today. But a topic that needs to be taught! After reading the book, I can promise it is one you will want to read WITH your children and grandchildren and discuss how important these changes were. She writes about the South as only a true southerner could. Characters come alive and become friends you will remember. Such an important book in my view, I bought two copies of Glory Be to donate to the library at the school our grandchildren attend!

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Wonderfully Conceived Story January 11, 2012

By C. E. Selby

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Set in the 1960s in Mississipp, Glory is an eleven-year-old white girl who has a fourteen-year-old sister. They live with their minister father and the maid/housekeeper, a black woman named Emma. There mother is dead. Yes, this is a typical southern middle-class family. It is summer, and Glory is looking forward to swimming in the pool--the whites only pool--and her up-coming birthday. She is also a reader--this helps one to believe the first-person narrative the author has chosen--with a special affinity for Nancy Drew mystery books.

And the novel has a bit of that flavor. But also I see the influence of Harper Lee in this novel with the first person narrator, the mother who is dead, the black housekeeper, the father who represents virtues.

And it is that historical time when Yankee--you know, those do-gooders who just aren't welcomed--come to the South to help with desegregation. And indeed a mother and her daughter have arrived, a daughter Glory's age. They meet in the library.

And I am not going to tell any more of the story except to say that I am old enough to know that this is very accurate and one that I am sure young adults as well as actual adults would enjoy reading. I suspect the many young adults will know little of this history although I think the author has done a very good job of providing enough information to help young readers.

I could easily see this being used as a classroom teaching tool. As a retired English teacher I know I would have used it.

This is like putting "The Help" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" together for adolescents. Really great writing.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Southern charmer December 22, 2011

By Barbara O'Connor

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

An important story of sisterly love, friendships, racial tension, all wrapped up in a pitch-perfect Southern setting. Scattergood is a debut author to watch. Add this one to your list.