Meet Our New Kid's VIB

It's 1964, and Sunny's town is being invaded. Or at least that's what the adults of Greenwood, Mississippi are saying. All Sunny knows is that people from up north are coming to help people register to vote. They're calling it Freedom Summer.

Meanwhile, Sunny can't help but feel like her house is being invaded, too. She has a new stepmother, a new brother, and a new sister crowding her life, giving her little room to breathe. And things get even trickier when Sunny and her brother are caught sneaking into the local swimming pool -- where they bump into a mystery boy whose life is going to become tangled up in theirs.

As she did in her groundbreaking documentary novel Countdown award-winning author Deborah Wiles uses stories and images to tell the riveting story of a certain time and place -- and of kids who, in a world where everyone is choosing sides, must figure out how to stand up for themselves and fight for what's right.

Judy B. says:
"This is a wonderful page-turner that can be read by any age reader.
 
There are two stories intertwined: The first is fiction, a mystery of sorts as it is 1964 in Greenwood, Mississippi and Sunny is living an entirely new life with her step-mother and family. Sunny sees a mystery boy at a swimming pool and she wonders about him. She sees the old south against the new south, and both against the invasion of northerners into her life, and everybody is taking different sides that they sincerely believe are right.
 
Threaded through the story are real events: pictures and posters, photographs, and songs reflecting that particular year that some call Freedom Summer. But no matter what she witnesses, or what her family believes, or what her church may tell her, Sunny finds a way to sift through all the information to arrive at her own moral system. And the mystery boy becomes part of her life, and the tightrope she walks is a little less frightening. An amazing tour-de-force by Deborah Wiles, who makes you feel like you are really present in Greenwood, Mississippi.
 
This is one terrific book!"

Every now and then we encounter a new children's book or series that we’re so excited about we want to broadcast it from the rooftop. We've created the Kids' TC VIB (very impressive book) to highlight real stand-outs among the many delightful and meaningful new editions for young readers.