My Year in the Middle, Lila Quintero Weaver
My Year in the Middle, Lila Quintero Weaver
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My Year in the Middle

Author: Lila Quintero Weaver

Narrator: Almarie Guerra

Unabridged: 5 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 07/10/2018


Synopsis

In a racially polarized classroom in 1970 Alabama, Lu's talent for running track makes her a new best friend — and tests her mettle as she navigates the school's social cliques.

Miss Garrett's classroom is like every other at our school. White kids sit on one side and black kids on the other. I'm one of the few middle-rowers who split the difference.

Sixth-grader Lu Olivera just wants to keep her head down and get along with everyone in her class. Trouble is, Lu's old friends have been changing lately — acting boy crazy and making snide remarks about Lu's newfound talent for running track. Lu's secret hope for a new friend is fellow runner Belinda Gresham, but in 1970 Red Grove, Alabama, blacks and whites don't mix. As segregationist ex-governor George Wallace ramps up his campaign against the current governor, Albert Brewer, growing tensions in the state — and in the classroom — mean that Lu can't stay neutral about the racial divide at school. Will she find the gumption to stand up for what's right and to choose friends who do the same?

About Lila Quintero Weaver

Lila Quintero Weaver was born in Argentina but grew up in Alabama, where she still lives with her husband. She is the author-illustrator of Darkroom, a graphic memoir. My Year in the Middle is her first book for young readers.


Reviews

Goodreads review by disco

Lu is a middle school student in racially-polarized 1970 Alabama, who doesn't quite fit. She navigates through family, friend, and school dynamics while trying to learn about herself. This is perfectly written for the desired audience and covers so much in so little pages.......more

Goodreads review by Darla

This middle grade novel is simply outstanding. Lu Olivera is the daughter of Argentinian immigrants who finds herself quite literally in the middle of the black and white kids in her sixth grade class. At the beginning of the book she is comfortable in the middle, but as the tensions ratchet up arou......more