about the book
Eleven-year-old Moses is in for an up-and-down kind of summer in 1898, facing a number of increasingly troublesome problems: his best friend is growing distant; his Boo-Nanny is superstitious and often butts heads with his father, who is pragmatic and educated; and a terrible family secret is sending his mom into a frantic depression.
Those were the downs. Now for the ups! Moses is teaching his Boo-Nanny how to read and write, and she is finally able to tell people about her life as a slave. Meanwhile, Moses’ father and his friends are becoming respected citizens in their Wilmington, North Carolina, community: he is an alderman of the town, and has become a reporter for the Wilmington Daily Record.
This does not mean, sadly, that racism is gone. Far from it. A bike shop’s slogan contest is only available to whites, and Moses loses his summer job at a farm when he helps another black employee figure out what his wages really should be (the farmer had been underpaying him). Then the Race Riots start….
Moses and his father are drawn into the riots in their own ways, and Moses will have a lot of growing up to do in order to make this summer have one more up, instead of being all down.
about the author
Barbara Wright (not to be confused with the Doctor Who character, should you look her name up online) grew up in North Carolina, but by now she has traveled all over the world. She has lived in places like El Salvador, Korea, and France, and currently resides in Denver, Colorado, with her husband Frank Gay.
Barbara began her career in writing while teaching English in Korea at a private language school, writing articles about Korean culture. Since moving back to America, she has also become a fact-checker and a screenwriter, as well as a novelist.
Barbara’s favorite character in her novel, Crow, was the wise Boo Nanny. Barbara and her character are both grandmothers with very inquisitive grandchildren. She came up with the unusual name because the character loved ghost stories so much! Now here is a coincidence that Barbara didn’t realize until the book was actually published. In high school, her friends called her Boo!
Source:
Author website
Author interview : History Detectives Blog
Author interview : From the Mixed-Up Files…of Middle-Grade Authors
Author biography: Wikipedia
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