A Summer of Kings

Fiction - YA, Historical, Kids, Teen, Social Issues
Cover of the book A Summer of Kings by Han Nolan, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Author: Han Nolan ISBN: 9780547351438
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publication: April 1, 2006
Imprint: HMH Books for Young Readers Language: English
Author: Han Nolan
ISBN: 9780547351438
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication: April 1, 2006
Imprint: HMH Books for Young Readers
Language: English

This novel of a turbulent bond between a black teenager and a sheltered white girl in the Civil Rights era is a “powerful mix of triumph and tragedy” (School Library Journal).

It’s 1963 and fourteen-year-old Esther Young is tired of feeling like a boring misfit in her well-off New York family full of talented artistic types. She wants this summer to be life-changing—and it will be.

King-Roy Johnson shows up on Esther’s doorstep that summer. He’s been sent north by his mother to escape a lynch mob after he was accused of murder in Alabama, and is taken in by Esther’s family. Feeling betrayed by the nonviolent philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr., King-Roy meets a follower of Malcolm X who uses radical teachings about black revolution to fuel King-Roy’s anger and frustration. Esther, meanwhile, becomes more drawn to Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi. With each other’s help, both Esther and King-Roy must learn the true nature of integrity and find the power to stand up for what’s right.

From a National Book Award–winning author of Dancing on the Edge, this novel, by turns funny and poignant, “not only opens a window to history, but also displays Nolan’s brilliant gift for crafting profoundly appealing protagonists” (School Library Journal).

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

This novel of a turbulent bond between a black teenager and a sheltered white girl in the Civil Rights era is a “powerful mix of triumph and tragedy” (School Library Journal).

It’s 1963 and fourteen-year-old Esther Young is tired of feeling like a boring misfit in her well-off New York family full of talented artistic types. She wants this summer to be life-changing—and it will be.

King-Roy Johnson shows up on Esther’s doorstep that summer. He’s been sent north by his mother to escape a lynch mob after he was accused of murder in Alabama, and is taken in by Esther’s family. Feeling betrayed by the nonviolent philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr., King-Roy meets a follower of Malcolm X who uses radical teachings about black revolution to fuel King-Roy’s anger and frustration. Esther, meanwhile, becomes more drawn to Dr. King and Mahatma Gandhi. With each other’s help, both Esther and King-Roy must learn the true nature of integrity and find the power to stand up for what’s right.

From a National Book Award–winning author of Dancing on the Edge, this novel, by turns funny and poignant, “not only opens a window to history, but also displays Nolan’s brilliant gift for crafting profoundly appealing protagonists” (School Library Journal).

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