My Year in the Middle

by Lila Quintero Weaver

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?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Historical, Sports

288 pages, Hardcover

First published July 10, 2018

Reviews

[disco · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Adriana Martinez Figueroa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review:

This review turned into a critical analysis of the book, but I promise it’s worth it. But, heed my SPOILER ALERT. You’ve been warned!

In reading Lila Quintero Weaver’s first foray into children’s fiction, I couldn’t help but think that this would pair well as a close analysis, keeping in mind Gloria Anzaldua’s border theory. To keep it simple, Anzaldúa believed that immigrants, especially Latinx, and more specifically those of Mexican descent, not just live with the trauma of immigrating across the literal border. The theory also refers to the borders that have been socially constructed, such as racial categorization and sexuality just to mention a few. I’ll apply her border theory to this text because I believe most of the book is a study of said theory.

My Year in the Middle follows the last six weeks of Lu Olivera’s sixth grade in 1970 Red Grove, Alabama. Lu is the child of two Argentinian immigrants, which reflects the author’s own personal experience (this is explained at the end of the book with the Author’s Note). Lu considers herself to be a wallflower and does everything in her power to stay that way. But when the P.E. teacher decides that the girls will start running for the last six weeks of class, Lu becomes the surprise underdog. She outruns the entire class, which had been desegregated only the year before. In classrooms, however, an unspoken rule still divides Lu’s peers between black and white. Seeing as she identifies as neither, she occupies a seat in the middle row. In that way, she straddles a literal border.

“A border is a dividing line, a narrow strip along a steep edge. A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary. It is in constant state of transition. The prohibited and forbidden are its inhabitants” (Anzaldúa 3).

The way Lu sits in that racial border that has been constructed without her say in the matter, is much in the way she struggles with her identity as a Latina. She fears her Spanish is not too good and that her translation skills are too basic. However, above all else, she seeks acceptance among the white girls in her class. She fears being Othered, but also fears complete assimilation into whiteness. Anzaldúa said: “The only ‘legitimate’ inhabitants [of the borderlands] are those in power, the whites and those who align themselves with whites. Tension grips the inhabitants of the borderlands like a virus. Ambivalence and unrest reside there and death is no stranger” (4). Though death may not be something that’s talked about in the book, ambivalence is something the narrative strides to be against. Lu feels the tension between her black and white classmates, which at times escalates to physical violence. At some point, even Lu’s the victim of physical and verbal violence from an older white student who takes the bus with her. Lu thwarts this by stomping his feet and correcting that she’s Argentinian, but she has to constantly remind herself of something her mother says: “We’re foreigners. We’re not supposed to get involved.”

Thus, Lu becomes an agent of whiteness by not daring to mix with the black kids, even though she identifies more with them and wishes to befriend them. There is a border that she dares not cross, even though it’s not something her parents have taught her. Her parents have taught her to be implicit in white supremacy even though they don’t believe in it. When Lu finally decides to befriend Belinda, a black girl in her class who is also a fantastic runner, she worries about what her white peers might think of such relationship. She doesn’t hide it in public, and she defends Belinda in the face of a racist shopkeeper, but when she’s faced with the questions of her white peers she shies away from the courage she shows. It’s a slow process as she realizes the systems at play in her classroom, and though she has some help from white peers like her friend Sam, her “best friend” Abigail does the opposite and encourages Lu to assimilate.

In fact, most of the characters who wish that Lu assimilate are women. If it’s not Abigail telling Lu to read women’s fashion tips in magazines, it’s Lu’s mom telling her that sports aren’t for girls when Lu expresses her love of running. This is a sentiment that even Anzaldúa expresses: “Culture is made by those in power—men. Males make the rules and laws; women transmit them” (16). By communicating that assimilation into a white heterosexual capitalist patriarchy or assimilation by ignoring your Otherness and that of your peers, Abigail and Lu’s mom transmit the messages of those in power, which Lu then internalizes.

The book mostly consists of Lu unlearning these internalized feelings and the text does so deftly and with the innocence of a sixth grader who’s only starting to realize the depth of US’s injustices. A good evolution is the image of Lu’s sister, Marina, who’s a college student as well as a volunteer for the Brewer campaign. This campaign is another subplot that’s almost always occurring in the background of Lu’s life. At moments she believes she wouldn’t be affected by the campaign, which is against rampant white supremacist ex-governor George Wallace and desegregationist Albert Brewer. But the book takes you on a sort-of ride-along as she goes to a Wallace rally because Abigail just wants to participate in a cake walk. As Lu feels horrible when the speeches start and the Confederate flags start flying, she bargains with herself and others that she only went to appease Abigail be a part of something with her white peers.

Lu doesn’t tell her black friends or her own family that she attended the rally, knowing it would be met with scorn, which means that she knew it was wrong. When her social studies teacher asks her to write an essay about her experience at the rally for bonus points, she does so, and gets full points while feeling guilty. That guilt is useless, however, seeing as it resembles the white guilt of her peers who want to rebel against the white supremacy in place at their school, but won’t do anything productive with it. It’s when Lu uses her guilt to defend her black friends that it becomes more productive.

At a white student’s birthday party, Lu becomes the target of harassment from her peers for being friends with the black students, especially Belinda. White fear comes bubbling up, and it’s only perforated when Lu finally owns up to her own prejudices and by calling out her peers’ racism in the process.

When Brewer loses the race, the sentiments explored in the book felt all too familiar. As the Brewer supporters start mourning the loss, the white Wallace supporters become even more assertive of their desire for white supremacy. The feelings paralleled the days after the election of Tr*mp. Keep in mind, the book is set less than 50 years ago, and the sentiments of white supremacy and segregationist laws are still present in the US. It is at that point that Lu’s reality comes crashing down on her.

At school, she finally decides to sit with the black students, eschewing the created border of the middle row, the false neutrality she thought she could keep. Lu finally overcomes “the tradition of silence” that Anzaldúa wished to do in regards of the censuring of her identity as a Chicana (59). And though, again, Lu isn’t a Chicana, it’s the best turning point for her as she accepts her Otherness and doesn’t give into white supremacy. In fact, she goes to a white man in power (the principal) to defend one of her black peers, who’s attacked by a white student in class.

Lu is constantly subverting the expectations set for her as the book moves along. She shows growth in the most hopeful and honest way. She’s constantly deconstructing the set default, though not always by herself, like in the scene in which Belinda is at her house and they’re going through the magazines that used to be Abigail’s. Belinda points out that there’s one black model for the overwhelmingly white publication, but she doesn’t worry because at her house they receive beauty magazines for black women. Lu can’t help but wonder that there’s no such thing for girls like her, girls from Latin America, and that she doubted she would ever find a black-haired model with brown skin. This scene is a short one, yet it puts into focus what has been set as the standard for beauty: Eurocentric features. It also helps as a way for Lu to deconstruct such standards, and to question why those are the default.

“It is not enough to stand on the opposite river bank, shouting questions, challenging patriarchal, white conventions. [...] At some point, on our way to a new consciousness, we will have to leave the opposite bank, the split between the two mortal combatants somehow healed so that we are on both shores at once [...] Or perhaps we will decide to disengage from the dominant culture, write it off altogether as a lost cause, and cross the border into a wholly new and separate territory. Or we might go a different route. The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react” (Anzaldúa 78-79).

And indeed, Lu acts. Most of the book is her reacting to injustice, and by the end she’s acting and choosing her own path. She chooses herself, she chooses her real friends, and her family. She also chooses running, with her entire family supporting her and her dad and sister helping her train before the big competition (a Field Day). It becomes a celebration of Lu’s identity as her parents shout encouragement in Spanish as she goes. Those screams allow her to win, seeing as her competition, an older white girl, gets distracted and falls on a pothole. This final scene settles the border paradox within Lu. She’s able to celebrate both her passion for running and her identity as a Latina, all while celebrating the friends she has. There’s no indication she wants to seek reunification with the white peers who turned their backs on her, or that she wants to seek some sort of revenge.

At the end, Lu is happy with forging her own path. She’s finally unafraid to embrace her actions, and leave behind the created borders. There are new borders, but she doesn’t wish to acknowledge them at the moment the book is finished. She’s proud of her growth, and so was I.


Works Cited:

Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. Aunt Lute Books, 1987.

Quintero Weaver, Lila. My Year in the Middle. Candlewick Press, 2018.

An eARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! (this is why I couldn’t directly cite from the source book, since ARCs undergo a lot of changes before publishing)

You can find this book online at all available retailers.

[Almira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I "review" this book, I would like to state, that if you are under the age of 50 some of which you will read in this book will seem very hard to believe, but as a 72 year old "White" woman, I do recall (not with pleasure ) a number of the events which the author includes in the book.

George Wallace stated "and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever."

The time is 1970, the setting is Red Grove, Alabama - Ex-Governor George Wallace is campaigning to defeat the current governor Albert Brewer (from 1968-71).

Sixth grader Lu Olivera sits in the middle row, with the white kids on one side of the room and the black kids on the other side, she just wants to get along with everyone, but since integration has occurred, it's not so easy to be in the middle. On top of that her older sister is a very vocal and hard working supporter of Albert Brewer in the local campaign.

This was a very well thought out and written book on this very "touchy" subject, especially told through the eyes of a 6th grader.

[Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

My admiration for this middle-grade novel kind of snuck up on me. I liked the pace and the main character from the start, but the more I read, the more I loved the way the Argentine American main character found herself in increasingly more situations where she had to make choices about how to deal with anti-Black racism. And both the situations and her choices felt organic to the character and the plot. It's set in a small town in central Alabama in 1970, but the parallels between Wallace's gubernatorial campaign and Trump's presidency are clear, without clobbering readers over the head with them. The main character is also learning how much she loves running and being part of the girls track team, so it ticked my girls-learning-what-they-love box in a big way. I'm doing that thing where I make lists of attributes and end up making the book sound like a slog, but the main character is charming, there's a lot of funny dialogue, and it was just a pleasure to read.

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 around a runoff between former governor Wallace and current governor Brewer it is impossible to stay there. This book brings home the realities of racism and peer pressure in an age appropriate way and will be a source of encouragement for middle grade students. Highly recommended. Love the cover!

[Wendy Garland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Alabama in 1970, the story takes place post-segregation but a racial divide still exists in the town and school. Lu just wants to make friends and explore her new interest, running, but will have to stand up to kids at school and even to her own parents. This is a story about standing up for what is right and finding the possibilities in that uncomfortable space.

[Jenelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tackles many issues that Black and Latino YA faced who lived through the Wallace-era South in the late 1960s and 70s. The author includes self confidence, speaking up, girl-power, anti-bullying, and anti-racist themes. If you’re trying to find that happy-medium book for YA with this criteria, this book would be appropriate for grades 4+.

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story about a South American girl who wrote the line between black and white segregation in Alabama during the 60s.

[kate. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ☆
> maybe it's just me, but i thought this was a realistic fic and it turned out to be historical fic! but no complaints :). one thing that made this one really unique is the language. just words that were just kinda in that time, etc. it was cute! love the rep of being in the middle -- racism is strong but lu is not sure where she belongs. from argentina, in just newly integrated town + school where hate is very present. enjoyed the running part as well :) def would rec for middle grade!

(for middle grade readers would prob rate 4 but as a teen it was a -bit- slow + boring, but that's just the reader, not the book :)
>> also i love the cover! such a cool concept.

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My students are loving it!!!!!

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I could be as brave as Lu. It's the 1970's in Alabama and tension is high as schools begin to desegregate. She literally sits in the middle of her classroom with all the white kids on one side and the black kids on the other. She's from Argentina and faces her own set of prejudices and knows how important it is to take a stand. In this year of sixth grade she learns a lot about her friends, both old and new, and the power of being courageous and finding your voice. This would make such a good read aloud and it provides so much to discuss with kids. Recommended for grades 5+.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This gave an interesting perspective on the Civil Rights movement. The main character is a Hispanic immigrant who is caught in the middle of the divide between her white and black classmates, which made for an interesting story. I felt, however, that some of the characters weren't well developed. The struggles Lu had with her family could have been deepened more to better develop the story.

[Clare Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique perspective of an Argentinian-American girl growing up in Alabama in 1970, just after schools were desegregated. I loved the subplot about her joining the track team and making new friends, and learned a lot about the Wallace v. Brewer election for governor. My 7th & 8th grade book club really enjoyed it and had some great discussions. Ages 10 and up (but might require some historical context).

[rowan ꩜ · Rating 5 out of 5]

leido en español.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luisa "Lu" Oliveras
12yo
Argentinian in Red Grove, Alabama

Desegregation

[✧~grey~✧]

read this book in spanish so idk why it doesn't show. prob was my fave of spanish books recently tho...it was rlly interesting seeing the whole "middle school growing up and apart" vibe along with racism w lu's friends and such. cute book overall

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of a Hispanic girl during segregation.
George Wallace running for governor.
Lots of the white kids are going to a private school to be away from the black kids.
I felt it.

[Kären Marroquin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a unique perspective to see 1960's Alabama through the eyes of an immigrant girl. Lu Olivera is sweet and relatable character who learns to find real friendship, follow her passion and find the gumption to choose a side instead of staying in the middle. A timely book.

[Westminster Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 1970 and Lu Olivera is a sixth grader who loves to do the things normal sixth graders do. Quite by accident she discovers that she likes running track. All around her however there is social upheaval, the effects of which are seen even at her school. As if that wasn't enough, her old friends have all started acting weird. Why can't things just stay the same?
This book although set in time nearly 50 years ago is still relevant. Young readers can be inspired by the example of Lu. Sometimes the right decisions are not at all easy to make.


Find My Year in the Middle at the Westminster Public Library!

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t the first book I’ve picked up at TLA that focused on things like prejudice and bigotry, and yet these topics seem increasingly relevant these days.

Argentinian immigrant Lu Olivera is in sixth grade and is facing new and interesting challenges, such as “my friends have discovered boys and makeup and I don’t see the appeal” and “I’m really good at this sport but the others mock me for it” and “I want to be friends with this girl, but she’s black and people will talk”.

Okay, that last one is only a problem if you’re in 1970s Alabama…which happens to be the case here. We’ve achieved integration here, but already like half of the white parents are transferring their kids to a fancy all-white private school across town.

Belinda is an African-American girl in Lu’s class, is a great runner, great friend, and gels excellently with Lu; even better than Lu’s current best friend, Abigail. Sadly, the problem is Alabama. In the 70s. Here, the black and white kids sit on opposite sides of the classroom, with Lu and a few others right in the middle. For those of us who are fully installed in the 21st century, the attitudes portrayed in the book are mind-boggling.

And Weaver does an excellent job establishing these historical attitudes. We are treated to a scene of Abigail dragging Lu along to a rally for George Wallace, who is running for re-election. They only wanted to go for the cakewalk, because cake, but then Wallace comes out, Confederate flags a-blazin’ with racist rhetoric and ad hominem attacks on the current governor. The more Lu listens, the more unnerved she feels because she knows this isn’t right.

That’s the heart of the story- finding the courage to stand up for what’s right and finding friends that will stand with her. Which side will she choose? Should she keep her head down and stick with the friends she has, even though they’re starting to buy into the white supremacist rhetoric? Or should she take the leap to the other side, with friends who want to change the status quo no matter what pushback they get?

I absolutely loved this book, couldn’t put it down, and it’s one I definitely want to share with my students.

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of the civil rights books I've read take place post Civil War through the 1960s. This book is set in the early 1970s in Alabama after all the states have desegregated. Alabama is still trying to turn back the clock. Ex-governor George Wallace, a segregationist, is running again against moderate Albert Brewer for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Racially, Lu is caught in the middle. Her family is from Argentina, neither white nor black. Her parent's philosophy is to stay out of the fray, but her sister feels differently and volunteers for the Brewer campaign. At school the classrooms are divided. Blacks on one side, whites on the other and a single row of "noncommittals" in the middle. Lu is in the middle, along with her anti-Wallace friend Sam.

When Lu discovers her talent for running, she befriends another fast runner who happens to be black. Then she innocently ends up at a Wallace rally with her friend Abigail and she finds herself being ostracized by everyone. All of her friends want her to choose a side. She's caught in the middle, when all she wants is for everyone to get along.

It could be my age, but I found the political aspect of the story fascinating. When a book compels me to do a little more research about the topic, it's a sign that I enjoyed the book. I found myself wanting to know more about George Wallace and his views. The author did a great job with details. For example, when Lu's black friend tries on the headband that Lu buys, the cashier makes a racist comment about it. You really get a feel for the racism that still existed a decade after desegregation. I love the white kids in the middle who finally take a stand and move over to the black side of the room, knowing the consequences they might face.

[Laura Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing: 5 Plot: 4.5 Characters: 5

Thank you to Candlewick Press and NetGalley for an early review copy of My Year in the Middle by Lila Quintero Weaver, which will publish July 10, 2018.  All thoughts are my own.

Excellent middle grade level story about racial tensions in Red Hook, Alabama, on the eve of the gubernatorial election of 1970 (hint: George Wallace wins). Lu Olivera is a fabulous character — she is the quiet and unassuming daughter of Argentinian immigrants who finds her own voice and moral compass as racial tensions manifest in her town and her school.
Lu is one of the few kids who “sits in the middle” in the classroom, with the black kids on one side and the white kids on the other. She finds a talent and passion for running and a new best friend — who happens to be black — to go along with it. As events transpire, and things occur which she knows is wrong, she wants to speak up, but running through her head is always her parent’s refrain: “We’re foreigners. We’re not supposed to get involved.” It’s both a history lesson and a lesson on the perils of conformity, being delivered to just the right age audience.
The characters are real and absorbing, and the plot keeps you on your toes and is appropriate for the middle school audience. The characters are portrayed skillfully as kids who would rather focus on family and friends (and in Lu’s case - boys) than politics but who are reluctantly drawn into these issues nonetheless.
Great book!

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally published on my blog, Books and Big Ideas

Disclaimer: I was provided an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley.

My Year in the Middle is a new middle grade novel set in a fictional Alabama town during the 1970s governor primary race featuring known racist and segregationist George Wallace. Lu's family immigrated to the area from Argentina when she was young, like the author herself. Her school is now integrated, but in every class the white kids sit to one side, the black kids sit on the other, and Lu and other students--including the cute son of an anti-racist pastor, Sam--sit in the middle to show their solidarity. In this tension-filled environment where many of her former white friends are drifting away, planning to go to an all-white private school, Lu trains to win a race on field-day and her running buddy and new friend is a black girl.

Weaver illustrates the time period well, from music and fashion, to Lu's vibrant voice filled with the cliches of the time, to microaggressions and more blatantly stated racist and sexist attitudes by adults and even fellow students. And yet, the comparison to attitudes of today are not far. Students today are most likely to socialize with those of their own race, and private schools and other options create the "white flight" we see in this novel. At one point, Lu attends a Wallace rally because she was promised a cakewalk and is horrified at the candidate's speech where he calls his opponent by an offensive nickname and talks an awful lot about, well, making Alabama great again.

I found it interesting how Lu classifies herself as white, although a "foreigner," because today the United States has very different attitudes toward Latinx people, many of which are sadly not positive. Lu does face some of this, but it's also demonstrated that many don't see her ethnicity and read her as white--her gym teacher is surprised to discover she speaks Spanish, and she knows adults seeing her talking with a black boy will think she is threatened. Mostly, her conflict about speaking up comes in part from her mother's warning that people don't like when foreigners get involved. Still, the concept of "the middle" applies to her own identity, and this was such a unique perspective to read from.

And yet, as a pivotal moment late in the novel demonstrates, being in the middle isn't enough. Lu discovers she has to stand up and speak out for what's right or justice won't happen. She could avoid humiliation and unpopularity if she aligns herself with the privilege of the white students (something marginalized ethnicities have done in the history of America), but she doesn't, despite how difficult speaking up can be. There is a LOT to think about here, and I kept reflecting on how this would be a fantastic book to teach with all the real-world connections.

The politics in this book come organically and very much through the eyes of a sixth-grader who is also occupied with school, friends, a crush, and sports. Interactions with her peers--especially with black students she connects with over common interests in running and music--are political and stir up tension just by existing. Her older sister is an intern for the candidate running against Wallace, she has to pay attention to the race for her social studies class, and the parents around her talk about it. Her scope of the election relates to how the it can impact her sixth-grade world...that a lot of white people really don't want her black friends to go to school with her.

AND there is another major plot thread throughout the book that I loved! Lu, inspired by Olympic Gold Medalist Madeline Manning, desperately wants to win a long-distance race on field day and convince her parents to allow her to run on a track team being formed for the high school, even though their cultural values have led them to believe she should focus only on school and that it isn't proper for girls to play sports. Plus, the older bully on the bus keeps talking about how his cousin is third in the state and will beat her. Lu pursues this goal with encouragement from her gym teacher and lengthy training sessions, first with her new friend, Belinda, whom she bonded with over their love for running in gym class, and later with her father's and sister's help. I loved that this emphasized all the hard work and small steps that go into accomplishing a larger goal, and the climactic race is worth it.

I do have a couple of minor quibbles with this book, however. An essay, a poem, and a song play major roles, and I would have loved to see these actually included in the text to give more insight into the characters. For instance, I wasn't entirely sure what angle Lu took on her report on the Wallace rally and I'm still not sure, especially since essays today--even at the sixth-grade level--are much more than a recounting of events that I suspect was popular back in the 1970s. I also was a little conflicted of the treatment of Lu's friend Abigail in the story...there's an acknowledgement of the (white) privileges of fashion/glamor, and her tale is certainly one of conformity that sadly includes racism, but I wasn't sure how to untangle these observations in a way that didn't look down on her interest in boys and fashion. Perhaps because Lu also has a big crush? I think she just came across as a character without much depth and that certainly relates to her path to conformity, but it's all tangled up in a "silly" crush and so on. Lu is wise enough to see that Abigail likes him more than he likes her, and I don't blame her for being upset, but it veered pretty close to some anti-teen-girl tropes. Perhaps something else to talk about with readers. The knowledge and worldliness Lu has in comparison is definitely because of her different experience with racism and inability to fully benefit from white privilege, while Abigail can cast that aside and come away from the Wallace rally only caring about the cakewalk experience. Yeah, the more I think about this, the more her character development and lack of shades makes sense, and boys and fashion should be interpreted as an extension of that, rather than evidence for it.

My Year in the Middle is a book that I think all upper elementary/middle (and beyond!) students and teachers should read for its important messages, historical account, and wonderful protagonist!

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Year in the Middle by Lila Quintero Weaver, 288 pages. Candlewick Press, 2018. $16.

Language: G; Mature Content: PG (racism); Violence: G.

BUYING ADVISORY: MS – ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

The year is 1970 and many people in Alabama wish desegregation had never happened. Segregationist George Wallace is running in the Alabama gubernatorial race. Racially, Lu is caught in the middle. Her family is from Argentina, neither white nor black. At school, blacks sit on one side of the room, whites on the other, and a single row of "noncommittals" in the middle. Lu doesn’t understand the fuss. Her best friend on the track team is black, but her white friend supports Wallace. She's caught in the middle, when all she wants is for everyone to get along.

I found the political aspect of the story fascinating. There is a lot of information about the political process and the two gubernatorial candidates, one for segregation and one against. The author did a great job with details. You get a feel for the racism that still existed a decade after desegregation. I love the white kids in the middle who finally take a stand and move over to the black side of the room, knowing the consequences they might face.

Valerie McEnroe, Media Specialist
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2019...

[Michelle Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a NetGalley ARC given for free in exchange for an honest review. Set in 1970 amid a contentious Governor’s race in racially charged Alabama, Lu finds herself literally and figuratively ‘in the middle’. Seated in the middle row of class with black classmates on one side and white classmates on the other, she also navigates the world as the daughter of Argentinian immigrants. Great story that parallels current times.

[Phobean]

Through no fault of this book, I got 30 pages in and had to stop. When I opened this book, we were still officially in Trump's America, I'm a full grown Black woman who has never been racially unaware (although I was raised class-blind, which has thankfully been corrected), and I didn't have the bandwidth to learn along with a child discoving her own complicity and white skin privilege. Too much. Not right now. May this novel find the young readers it is intended for.

[Shenwei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lu is a passionate, sensitive protagonist whose personality jumps off the page. This story provides a nuanced view of racism in history and sets a great example in showing young readers how to stand up for what is right in spite of doubts and peer pressure.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drawing in part on her own experiences in Alabama during the civil rights movement, the author highlights the pivotal year of 1970 in Red Grove, Alabama during which one sixth grade girl finally takes a stand. Protagonist Lu Olivera has been reared by her parents, immigrants from Argentina, to do the right thing. She is friendly enough to all her classmates, but the school's recent integration has resulted in a racial divide in her classroom with Lu and some of the students feeling as though they are in the middle, torn between the whites and the blacks. This might not be an issue, but Lu starts running track, and quietly nurtures a friendship with Belinda Gresham, another runner who also happens to be black. Even while the laws of the nation are changing, attitudes and practices are not, and mixing between the two races is frowned upon. As Lu's best friend, Abigail, becomes increasingly boy crazy and interested in impressing Phyllis, one of the bossy girls in the class, Lu finds herself doing things that aren't usual for her. In order to earn extra credit and to participate in a cake walk, she even attends a political rally for George Wallace, a segregationist who is running for governor against the incumbent, where she is shocked at the racist rhetoric and ashamed to be in attendance. After all, her older sister and parents all support the other candidate, Albert Brewer. Her attendance and behavior leave another classmate, Sam, confused since he had thought they were on the same political side. The best scene in the book takes place at a birthday party where Lu finally takes her stand and shows herself willing to embrace her real friends. When she takes this action and another important move in her classroom regarding the seating arrangements, I wanted to cheer for her courage. It's so very hard to go against the mores of one's social circle, especially when the consequences for doing so are very clear. What with her parents not being particularly supportive of her desire to run and Abigail changing in ways that confuse Lu, this was a very tough year. I was proud of Lu for finally doing the right thing, and impressed with how easily the author took readers back to that particular historical time when many whites would never have worn anything touched by someone who was black, let alone become friends. While this story is important because it shows that one person, even a sixth grader, can take action to make a difference, there were points at which the author seemed to be trying too hard to thrust readers back in time with so many cultural references. I'm glad I read this book and consider it to be a solid addition to the canon of civil rights literature, but her graphic memoir, Darkroom, impressed me more. As I read, I worried about the consequences to her family for adhering to their own political stances on civil rights. After all, small towns can be very judging of new folks, especially immigrants. The budding romance with Sam just left me feeling a bit bored because of its predictability.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this when I started because we're immediately introduced to a somewhat stereotypical female gym teacher with beefy arms who uses a lot of southern jargon that to me, an Ohioan, felt super forced in her first spoken sentences: whippersnappers, kit and caboodle, and "lazy sheilas" that I had to Google and could only find entries about how Sheila is an Australian term for girl but maybe it's also a southern thing(??)...

But I'm glad I kept with it because I don't know if it was me settling into the story or the writing itself, but after a few chapters the southern terms didn't feel as forced and I could focus more on the story being told. Readers will cheer for Lu as she starts to flourish in her track talents and witness her constant moral and ethical dilemmas of figuring out right from wrong and learning to take a stand. In one early scene Lu has just finished a huge race and two of her classmates want to her join them in a victory dance and she declines, telling them she's not good at dancing. "But that's not the real problem. What's really got me worried is crossing over a line I'm not supposed to cross, if people see me getting friendly with Belinda and Angie. I'm already on the outs as it is..." (pg. 35) Belinda and Angie are two of Lu's black classmates. We see Lu attend a rally for former govenor George Wallace (she's uncomfortable about it but is going with her friend for the cake) and doesn't think she's doing anything wrong by being there until she hears his racist and demeaning remarks in person. She's told the reader things that make it known she believes everyone should have the right to go to school together and enjoy the same things, but she also knows that for her popularity's sake she has to be careful about who she's friends with.

What makes this book stand out to me is Lu's overall character and how authentic she comes across. The reader is practically in her head as she's witnessing events, thinking things through, and growing. We can follow some of her thought processes, most of which come off as believable for someone her age. We witness and remember how easy it is to be coerced by friends or expectations or another's judgement into doing something you don't believe in, or being afraid to speak out against it.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Candlewick Press for the arc of this book!
Many might think that sixth graders don't have challenges. After all, they're only in elementary school. In this historical middle-grade novel, set in Alabama with racial conflicts in the race for governor (Wallace's last term), young Lu Olivera has learned she loves to run and is good at it! In the prep for field day given by her pe teacher, Mrs. Underwood, Lu nearly wins and is only beat by Belinda, a black classmate. Thus the ending weeks of her sixth-grade year begin, and Lu isn't quite sure where she stands.
A scene is set by Lila Weaver within classrooms, too. Lu sits in the middle, not exactly white because her parents are from Argentina, so while white kids sit on one side of the room and black kids on the other, Lu is smack in the middle. This year friendships change as some girls say they're leaving for the new private school, and Lu's earlier friends, Phyllis and Abigail, are pulling away to the tune of not-nice Missy. It is a mixed-up and new world for Lu, but with the running and support from her older sister who works for the man running against Wallace and her friend, Sam, whose family also supports that candidate, somehow it works. And it works finally when Lu realizes that true friends are "always" friends, no matter what color they are. Toward the end, Lu realizes she has two friends with "brains and gumption", advice given for friendships by her sister. She says to herself: "Sometimes shy people are pretty gutsy, deep down. Sometimes they're not, but then they put their minds to it and figure out how to grow gumption. Maybe that's starting to happen to me."
Lu tells her story, honest in sharing her worries and hurts, her mixed feelings when thinking about girl and boy stuff, and trying hard to do the right thing, but feeling shy often when she knows she should speak up. Red Grove, Alabama is a fictional town, but the story is inspired by the author's real experiences growing up in Alabama. It's a basic story and at times, I wanted more details, then realized that those basics are enough for a middle-grade story, will inspire further reading and research into this historical time period along with interesting conversations.