It's 1963 and fourteen-year-old Esther Young is looking for excitement. Cursed with a lack of talent in a family filled with artistic types, Esther vows to get some attention by initiating a summer romance with a black teen accused of murdering a white man in Alabama.
King-Roy Johnson shows up on Esther's doorstep that summer, an angry young man who feels betrayed by the nonviolent teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. Sent north by his mother to escape a lynch mob, he meets a follower of Malcolm X's who uses radical teachings about black revolution to fuel King-Roy's anger and frustration. But with each other's help, both Esther and King-Roy learn the true nature of integrity and find the power to stand up for what is right and true.
National Book Award-winning author Han Nolan brings readers a bold new voice--by turns funny and poignant, innocent and worldly--in this powerful coming-of-age story set during the turbulent struggle for civil rights.
I was born in Birmingham, Alabama. When I was 9 months old my family moved to New York where I spent most of my childhood and teen years. When I was a toddler, I had white blond hair that stood straight up on my head. My family called me "Hoot" back then because that and my big eyes made me look like an owl. I couldn't pronounce my first and middle names, which were Helen Harris, so I said "Hannah Hollis". My family shortened this to a variety of nicknames: Hahn, Han Holl, Han, Hannie, and Hannie Bucket, which my husband later shortened to Hannie B. The neighborhood kids also called me Hahn. It is now pronounced, Han, and it rhymes with man.
I was very active as a child--I loved to jump on beds, do somersaults, handstands and flips on and off of sofas, climb trees and do different tricks on the monkey bars at the playground. I also liked my own thoughts best. In kindergarten, I paid no attention to my teacher. She told my mother that she thought I had a hearing problem. My parents had my hearing tested. My ears were fine. When my mother told me what the teacher had said I replied that I heard my teacher all right, it's just that she kept interrupting all my good thoughts!
I've loved stories for as long as I can remember. One of my favorite memories is of my father telling me bedtime stories, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, B'rer Rabbit, and stories from the Bible such as my favorite, Joseph and his Coat of Many Colors. I loved to make up my own stories too. I didn't write them down until I was a little older, but I sure loved to make them up.
One of my favorites books as a child was "Harriet the Spy". I wanted to be a spy, so I started spying on my family, especially my older sister. It turned out I was a terrible spy because I kept getting caught, but I kept a spy notebook, just like Harriet. I quickly gave up on the spying, but writing thoughts and stories in a notebook has been a habit for me ever since.
When I was ten, I saw the movie "The Sound of Music" and I fell in love with it. Back then if you wanted to see a movie more than once you had to go to the theater. We didn't have videos. I only saw it once but I had the record album with all the music on it and I learned every word of it. I made up dances to go with it and gave a performance for my family. My brothers and sisters laughed at me. My parents and grandmother applauded and told me I was wonderful. For years after seeing that movie I would lie awake nights remembering the story of the Sound Of Music and making up my own stories to go with it. Lying awake nights making up stories instead of sleeping is a habit I still have, as my husband can tell you.
My elementary school years were tough--I hated school. I wanted to be at home with my mother. I used to feel sick to my stomach every morning and my mother would let me stay home sometimes. We moved to Kentucky when I was in the fifth grade. I stayed home a lot that year and I missed so much school I had to repeat the grade to make up all the work I had missed. After that I didn't get sick to my stomach anymore.
I didn't do well in school until the sixth grade. That's the year I was given my first creative writing assignment. I had been writing stories at home for years and of course keeping a journal filled with more stories and poems and all those important thoughts I had. My homeroom/English teacher was very impressed by my writing and this made me feel smart. I decided to do well in school after that, and I did. But what if that teacher hadn't encouraged me?
When I was 13, my mother enrolled me in dance class. At first I felt like a big oaf--all the other kids were younger, or had been taking dance lessons for years, so I was behind. But I loved it, and I began to work at it all the time: stretching so I could do splits and high kicks and dancing around the house to music. Two years later I was invited to join the special master classes for the best students. All that hard work had paid off.
I loved dance--I continued lessons into high school, and then went to college and graduate school as a dance major. I went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as an undergraduate, and went to Ohio State for my Masters degree.
So how did I end up as a writer?
I got married after Grad school and I soon realized that my dancing took up too much of the wrong time. When my husband was at work I was at home, and when he was home I was dancing. I didn't like that at all, even though my husband took a beginning ballet class just so he could spend time with me. I left dance and I decided to return to my first love, writing. Soon after that we adopted three children and I knew for sure that staying home and writing instead of dancing was the best decision for me.
As an adult I still love to spend time with my family and friends, and I love to read, run, hike, bike, swim, go to plays and concerts, travel, and of course, write.
This review is from: A Summer of Kings (Hardcover)
The year is 1963. Fourteen-year-old Esther Young is used to being considered the dunce of her family. All she wants is something new, something exciting to come along and give her an opportunity to show her family how special she is. She sees her chance when King-Roy Johnson, a black man accused of killing a white man in Alabama, comes to stay with her family for the summer.
Esther's parents believe that he is innocent; Esther doesn't know what to believe. But she determines to get to know the mysterious stranger living down the hall, and, in the process, learn a little bit more about herself.
A Summer of Kings mixes one girl's coming-of-age story with a powerful message about human nature. Full of well-rounded characters that are easy to relate to, Kings engages both the heart and the mind. It deals with the issue of racial discrimination--from the two sides. Both white brutality against blacks and black resentment against whites are dealt with in equal measure. The author uses Esther's story to show readers how the two sides justify their hatred by dehumanizing each other.
Esther and King-Roy want an end to segregation and racial prejudice in their country. But while King-Roy is drawn by the fiery messages of angry black leaders such as Malcolm X, who calls for violent uprising, Esther discovers the "peaceful resistance" teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi--and begins to long for an end to the violence.
Together, Esther and King-Roy find a way to face use these teachings to change their own lives and show the world that love is greater than hatred, and brotherhood stronger than bitterness.
Armchair Interviews says: A Summer of Kings is a not-to-be-missed books for young adults.
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This review is from: A Summer of Kings (Hardcover)
I've read this novel and I'd like to say that it is really one of the best that Han Nolan had written. The whole story regarding civil rights is gripping, page-turning and very realistic. A very thoughtful novel and I truly recommend this to anyone who just wants to know more about human rights and freedom. Some parts were really touching and I was actually crying half-way through this book...lol! All Han Nolan fans out there, go get a copy right now! I guarantee that you would not regret it:-)
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4.0 out of 5 starsWonderful historical fiction/coming of age novel!!, July 21, 2006
A Kid's Review
This review is from: A Summer of Kings (Hardcover)
A Summer of Kings is a great book. Part Historical Fiction, part a story about finding out who you are and what your place in the world is. It is very well written, thought provoking, has wonderfully developed characters, humor, and romance.
The plot:
Esther young is 14 years old, and is the black sheep of the family. She is viewed as untalented, stupid, and ugly. She is actually quite the opposite, and she is looking for a change. The perfect chance comes when she learns that a black man named King-Roy Johnson is coming to live with them, after being accused of murdering a white man. She is determined to fall in love with him, and have him return her feelings, an idea that receives much scorn from her best friend 'Pip'. When King-Roy arrives, Esther immediatly likes him, and he immediatly feels comfortable with her. They would be fast friends, except for King-Roy's internal struggle with what he believes is right. After a terrible tragedy results from the peaceful teaching of Martin Luther King Jr., King Roy is more enclined to believe in the teachings of Malcom X, A man who is against whites and believes that the only way to freedom is through violence. King-Roy and Esther will both go through a tough time in there life, in which they search for what is right, and what the true meaning of freedom is.
This book is wonderful! Han Nolan fans will thouroughly enjoy it, and so will first time readers of her work! ENJOY!!
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