Overview
These classic novels, set during the Civil Rights era, follow the early years of David Williams, a young man who in the face of violence and bigotry struggles to keep alive his dream of becoming a doctor. A foreword by Rudine Sims Bishop and an afterword by the author's daughter, Ruth Graham Siegrist, Ph.D., place these remarkable novels in the context of their time (South Town was originally published in 1958.) Through the character of David Williams, young readers witness a turbulent era in American history, a period marked by unspeakable injustice and life-affirming hope.
An African American family's hopes for a peaceful existence in North Town are shattered when their teenage son becomes involved with the police after being attacked by a gang and the town erupts into riot and disorder.
Synopsis
An African American family's hopes for a peaceful existence in North Town are shattered when their teenage son becomes involved with the police after being attacked by a gang ...
Publishers Weekly
In the words of Rudine Sims Bishop, from her foreword, Lorenz Graham "helped pave the way for the development of contemporary African American literature for children and young adults" with his Town novels-South Town; North Town; Whose Town?; and Return to South Town. The four books span 15 years in the life of their protagonist, David Williams, whom readers first meet as a 15-year-old in the rural south of the 1950s. The first title chronicles a dangerous summer for David, when an act of heroism backfires under the constant pressure caused by the bigotry and Jim Crow laws that control his daily life. In North Town, although David's family has moved to a Northern city where racial divisions are less obvious, bigotry makes David's dream of becoming a doctor seem even more remote. Racial violence becomes more pronounced in Whose Town?, as the civil rights movement gathers momentum. Return to South Town features an adult David and his effort to become the first practicing black doctor in his hometown. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In the words of Rudine Sims Bishop, from her foreword, Lorenz Graham "helped pave the way for the development of contemporary African American literature for children and young adults" with his Town novels-South Town; North Town; Whose Town?; and Return to South Town. The four books span 15 years in the life of their protagonist, David Williams, whom readers first meet as a 15-year-old in the rural south of the 1950s. The first title chronicles a dangerous summer for David, when an act of heroism backfires under the constant pressure caused by the bigotry and Jim Crow laws that control his daily life. In North Town, although David's family has moved to a Northern city where racial divisions are less obvious, bigotry makes David's dream of becoming a doctor seem even more remote. Racial violence becomes more pronounced in Whose Town?, as the civil rights movement gathers momentum. Return to South Town features an adult David and his effort to become the first practicing black doctor in his hometown. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
The third of Graham's four "Town" books continues the saga of David Williams in the North. Now eighteen and a senior in high school, David plunges into the hot water of racial tensions again. He's wooed by a group of pseudo-Black Panthers, gets arrested for fighting white teenagers in a diner—an act which leads to the shooting death of one of his hot-tempered friends—and becomes a passive reporter of his city's riots in the summer after the assassination of Martin Luther King. In the process of retelling this recent history, Graham allows David to become more of a symbol and less of a teenager. David's graduation and hard-won scholarship to college are shunted to the background while he philosophizes in Graham's voice on the potential for racial unity in the midst of chaos. Lorenz Graham was the precursor to African-American literature for children. He paved the way so that later writers such as Christopher Paul Curtis could be heard. Graham's voice is not one of rage, like his contemporary, Richard Wright. It is more placatory, yet realizes that a man may reach a flash point during which he must act—or lose his spirit forever. Even as the series becomes more tract than fiction, it is good that his saga of David Williams's struggle and rise within the burgeoning civil rights movement has been reissued for a new generation. 2003 (orig. 1969), Boyds Mills Press, Ages 10 to 14.— Kathleen Karr