A Summer of Kings

From the Publisher

"Infused with rhetoric that is as meaningful today as it was two generations ago, this young teen's account of a life-changing summer not only opens a window to history, but also displays Nolan's brilliant gift for crafting profoundly appealing protagonists."—School Library Journal

"Idealistic readers will relate to fierce Esther's determination to join the March on Washington and realize positive change, even as the powerful, troubling conclusion resists sentimental solutions."—Booklist

Publishers Weekly

Nolan (Dancing on the Edge) movingly conveys a teen's introduction to the civil rights movement in this intimate story set in the summer of 1963. Esther, the daughter of a renowned New York director, has led a sheltered, unhappy existence in suburbia. Overshadowed by her highly gifted younger siblings, she feels inadequate and lonely. Esther's view of herself, her family and the world undergoes a radical change during her 14th summer when her parents agree to provide refuge for an 18-year-old African-American named King-Roy, who is accused of killing a white man (his mother and Esther's mother were childhood friends). While the adults in the household (especially Esther's eccentric Auntie Pie) remain wary about protecting a fugitive, Esther eagerly befriends their guest. Throughout the summer, she learns about injustices in the South that have caused King-Roy to become angry and mistrustful, but she disagrees with his notion, adopted by Malcolm X, that violence is the only answer to prejudice. The frequent allusions to the Nation of Islam and Martin Luther King at times can feel forced, but this thought-provoking novel will likely raise young readers' consciousness alongside Esther's, as she broadens her perspective of social ills, gains self-confidence and eventually steps out of the shadows to stand up for what she believes. If minor characters, particularly Esther's insensitive mother and bratty sister, come off as stereotypes, Esther emerges as a convincing, admirable heroine. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature

Esther Young does not seem to fit in anywhere. The fourteen-year-old is upstaged by her director father and two young siblings who are as brilliant on stage as they are in learning. Esther has been rejected by girlfriends who think she is immature and reject Pip, her short best friend who proclaims his love for her. She lives in a Westchester mansion crowded with an unusual cast of characters, including an eccentric great-aunt, an unemployed actress, a French tutor, and a martyrish mother who is more focused on helping a dying friend than on running the family. In the summer of 1963, she is finally free of tutors and hopes to find herself. When King-Roy Johnson, a young black man accused of murdering a white man, moves in, Esther is determined to turn him into her first love and feels an immediate connection. This becomes complicated when King-Roy runs away to Harlem where he meets up with Ax, a follower of Malcolm X, and determines that violence is the only way to overthrow "white devils." Gradually Esther and readers begin to know his reasoning and his story. Han Nolan's coming-of-age story of one girl parallels an embattled nation struggling to find itself. Esther shows us how passion can be fueled and directed to make change in the world. 2006, Harcourt, Ages 12 up.
—Susie Wilde

VOYA

During the civil rights movement era, Esther feels as if she is standing still while everyone else around her is growing and changing. Her friends from school have abandoned her for the summer, consumed with boys. Even her pal Pip seems to be growing away from her. He is more interested in working on his cross-country stamina and his newest pen pal, a girl. Esther feels isolated and unloved. When King-Roy Johnson arrives from Alabama, Esther's life is changed irrevocably. King-Roy, the son of her mother's childhood friend, is suspected of killing a man who turned a hose on him and his younger sister and brother during a protest march. New York seems to be a safe haven for King-Roy until he meets Ax, a radicalized young man who makes King-Roy begin to distrust Esther and her family simply because they are white. Esther spends considerable time with King-Roy over the course of a summer that will change both of them. Nolan supplants history to a minor role in this novel. Instead the book is all about relationships-between whites and blacks, between boys and girls, and within the family. Her touch is delicate; in the hands of a lesser writer, this balancing act could be disastrous. But as she has demonstrated in Born Blue (Harcourt, 2001/VOYA October 2001), the line between race is one that can readily be blurred. History teachers will appreciate the discussion that Esther and King-Roy have about the opposing philosophies of two leaders of this era, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. VOYA CODES: 5Q 3P J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2006, Harcourt, 352p., $17. Ages 12to 18.
—Teri S. Lesesne

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Infused with rhetoric that is as meaningful today as it was two generations ago, this young teen's account of a life-changing summer not only opens a window to history, but also displays Nolan's brilliant gift for crafting profoundly appealing protagonists. Increasingly resentful of her forced role as the dim, responsible one in her gifted, well-to-do New York family, Esther acts out with increasing bitterness in a struggle to earn some respect and elbow room. Her rebellion begins to gain traction after King-Roy, the 18-year-old African-American son of her mother's childhood friend, travels up from Alabama to escape accusations that he murdered a white man. As he becomes a radicalized, tough-talking supporter of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, Esther counters by studying the words of James Baldwin, Dr. King, and Mahatma Gandhi-and finds an epiphany in Gandhi's challenge to "be the change we want to see in the world." In the end, Esther's family is persuaded by her passion to join her in the famous 1963 march in Washington, DC, and King-Roy heads back home in the wake of uglier events. What sets Esther apart from everyone else in the story-and most readers for that matter-is her ability to see the differences between her own expectations and those that are imposed from outside. Her genuineness is not only wholly admirable, but it also drives King-Roy and her parents crazy, adding a leavening of humor to her narrative's powerful mix of triumph and tragedy.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

King Roy is the alleged murderer who comes to live with Esther's eccentric privileged family in their 30-room mansion in the summer of 1963. Daddy's a director; brother and sister are gifted child actors; and other guests, mostly related to the theater, all fail to appreciate Esther's own contributions to their world. Pip is a neighbor boy, convinced that he and Esther will marry, but in the initial scene where they scrape up roadkill to feed Auntie Pie's injured hawks, it becomes clear that independent Esther has a different idea about their future. King Roy's life in the south hasn't prepared him for his new digs, but in the process of handling his own anger and conversion to the teachings of Malcolm X, he manages not only to teach innocent Esther about some of the injustices that make up his life, but about her own power to make change happen in the world. The interaction between personal and national politics transforms ideas into emotional reality. The brilliantly portrayed cast of characters illuminates the gut-wrenching history of the time, making tangible the sorrow and hurt that is always personal. (Fiction. YA)