A review by abigailbat
The Liberation of Gabriel King by K.L. Going
4.0
Fourth grader Gabriel King has decided that he's not going to the fifth grade. It's too scary. So his best friend Frita comes up with the idea of writing down everything they're afraid of and using the summer of 1976 to face every single fear on their list so that they'll be braver. Gabe's list is quite long. But when he finds something that Frita truly fears in their town, he knows he'll have to be brave so he can stand beside her and help her fight it.
This book was an unexpected joy to me. It started off as a goofy summer friendship story, but soon delves into more serious topics, namely race relations in 1970s small-town Georgia. It does this with aplomb, and I liked the serious bits just as much as the funny bits. This is fairly painless historical fiction, though some topics might do better with a bit of scaffolding. Highly recommended.
This book was an unexpected joy to me. It started off as a goofy summer friendship story, but soon delves into more serious topics, namely race relations in 1970s small-town Georgia. It does this with aplomb, and I liked the serious bits just as much as the funny bits. This is fairly painless historical fiction, though some topics might do better with a bit of scaffolding. Highly recommended.