White Lilacs

In 1921 in Dillon, Texas, twelve-year-old Rose Lee sees trouble threatening her black community when the whites decide to take the land there for a park and forcibly relocate black families to an ugly stretch of territory outside the town.

A moving tale of the struggle to preserve a community

The ALAN Review

Carolyn Meyer has taken a kernel of history and imagined a most moving elaboration and yet another memorable female protagonist. Rose Lee Jefferson draws each house in Freedomtown, including her grandfather's, which contains the extraordinary garden where the rare white lilacs grow, to create an illustrated historical record before the town is literally moved away. During the 1920s, the residents of Denton, Texas-the white, voting residents, that is-actually did move an African-American community to make room for a city park. The novel contrasts the lives of Rose Lee and her relatives with those of the white family for whom they work. This is a realistic portrayal of the precarious existence of African-Americans in the South and how their sense of community and faith helps them survive. Varying attitudes towards segregation are reflected in the actions of both segments of the town, and unlikely heroes emerge. Meyer gives us believable characters and a good story which will give middle school and high school readers a greater understanding of the human drama in American history.

CAROLYN MEYER is the acclaimed author of more than fifty books for young people. Her many award-winning novels include Mary, Bloody Mary, an ABA Pick of the Lists, an NCSS-CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, a New York Times bestseller; White Lilacs, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an NYPL Best Book for the Teen Age, and an IRA Young Adults' Choice; Marie, Dancing, a BookSense Pick; and the historical novel, The True Adventures of Charley Darwin. Ms. Meyer lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
www.readcarolyn.com