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Night on Fire
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Night on Fire
Unavailable
Night on Fire
Ebook216 pages3 hours

Night on Fire

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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About this ebook

Thirteen-year-old Billie Simms doesn’t think her hometown of Anniston, Alabama, should be segregated, but few of the town’s residents share her opinion. As equality spreads across the country and the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum, Billie can’t help but feel stuck--and helpless--in a stubborn town too set in its ways to realize that the world is passing it by. So when Billie learns that the Freedom Riders, a group of peace activists riding interstate buses to protest segregation, will be traveling through Anniston on their way to Montgomery, she thinks that maybe change is finally coming and her quiet little town will shed itself of its antiquated views. But what starts as a series of angry grumbles soon turns to brutality as Anniston residents show just how deep their racism runs. The Freedom Riders will resume their ride to Montgomery, and Billie is now faced with a choice: stand idly by in silence or take a stand for what she believes in. Through her own decisions and actions and a few unlikely friendships, Billie is about to come to grips with the deep-seated prejudice of those she once thought she knew, and with her own inherent racism that she didn’t even know she had.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateSep 1, 2015
ISBN9780807570258
Unavailable
Night on Fire
Author

Ronald Kidd

Ronald Kidd is the author of the highly acclaimed Monkey Town: The Summer of the Scopes Trial, as well as On Beale Street. His novels of adventure, comedy, and mystery have received the Children's Choice Award, an Edgar Award nomination, and honors from the American Library Association, the Library of Congress, and the New York Public Library. He is a two-time O'Neill playwright who lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The fight for equality.Based on real events in the civil Rights Movement in Alabama USA, this Young Adult book was well written and accessible. A worthwhile read for young adults and adults alike.In the 1960s, equality was written into Federal law, but some of the Southern States had yet to enforce it. The Freedom Riders, a group of mixed white and black students decided to ride buses together through some of the Southern States on a peaceful demonstration.Billie Simms is 13 yrs old and white, but she doesn't take for granted the traditions of black servants, with separate entrances and seats at the back of the bus. When she meets up with Jarmaine, the daughter of the family servant, she finds that even more questions require answers. Her parents' responses don't satisfy her, so she decides to join the fight for equality.Billie is horrified to realise how much segregation there is between her way of life and Jarmaine's. She realises how much she's taken for granted and treated the black workers as if they are invisible. She also becomes aware that just standing by and watching is not the same as getting involved and fighting for change.An excellent book that should be required reading in Europe as well as US. Recommended.