The Liberation of Gabriel King

by K.L. Going

Gabriel King was a born chicken. He’s afraid of spiders, corpses, loose cows, and just about everything related to the fifth grade. Gabe’s best friend, Frita Wilson, thinks Gabe needs some liberating from his fears. Frita knows something about being brave— she’s the only black kid in school in a town with an active Ku Klux Klan. Together Gabe and Frita are going to spend the summer of 1976 facing down the fears on Gabe’s list. But it turns out that Frita has her own list, and while she’s helping Gabe confront his fears, she’s avoiding the thing that scares her the most.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Friendship, Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 2005

About the author

K.L. Going is the award winning author of numerous books for children and teens. Her first novel, Fat Kid Rules the World was named a Michael Printz Honor Book by the American Library Association, and was included on YALSA’s Best Books for Young Adults list and their list of Best Books for the Past Decade. Her books have been Booksense picks, Scholastic Book Club choices, Junior Library Guild selections, NY Public Library Best Books for the Teenage, and winners of state book awards. They’ve been featured by Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Kirkus, and Children's Book Council as Best Books of the year. Her work has also been published in Korea, Italy, Japan, Germany, and the UK, and her novel Fat Kid Rules the World is soon to be an independent film!

K.L. began her career working at one of the oldest literary agencies in New York City. She used this inner knowledge of publishing to write Writing and Selling the Young Adult Novel -- a how-to book for aspiring writers, published by Writer's Digest. She has also written short stories for several anthologies and currently has multiple picture books under contract. She lives in Glen Spey, NY where she both writes and runs a business critiquing manuscripts. She’s also a mom to the world’s cutest little boy.

To visit KL on-line go to www.klgoing.com, www.facebook.com/klgoing, or at http://twitter.com/#!/KLGoing.

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yesterday I saw this book sitting on the bookshelf in the 5th grade classroom where I was substituting. I picked it up to read during lunch, continued reading it during afternoon recess, and finished it after the students went home at the end of the day. I loved it! Couldn't put it down. What a sweet sweet story.

Gabriel King is a nine year old boy who is afraid of lots of things-spiders, basements, loose cows, ghosts, missing the school bus, killer robots, alligators, and getting his hand chopped off in his momma's new blender to name a few. Mostly he's afraid of moving up to 5th grade next year. 5th grade means outside gym with the 6th graders, cafeteria time with the 6th graders, and recess with the 6th graders. Sharing time and space with the 6th graders also means being near Duke Evans and Frankie Chapman, the two boys who routinely torment and bully him. Gabriel decides he's going to stay in 4th grade and not move on to 5th next year. His best (and only) friend Frita decides he just needs "a little liberatin'" from his fears. During the summer she says "I'm going to liberate you from this situation and we're gonna take care of business. Just you wait". "Don't matter" he tells her. "I'm not movin' up anyway. I've decided it. I'll just get beat up on every day, so I might as well stay back. I'd rather be alive in 4th grade than dead in the 5th".

Frita knows how to help someone be brave and face their fears. She’s the only African American student in school in a town with an active Ku Klux Klan. She stood up to Mr.Evans, Duke's racist father who called her "that n****r gal" in front of the students, teachers, and parents on the last day of school. Frita comes up with a plan for Gabriel. "Something to help you stop being chicken". "Make a list, everything you're afraid of. Then we'll cross 'em off, one by one, saving Duke Evans and the 5th grade for last when you're the most brave". Together Gabe and Frita are going to spend the summer of 1976 facing down the fears on Gabe’s list. But it turns out that Frita has her own list, and while she’s helping Gabe confront his fears, she’s avoiding the thing that scares her the most.

I loved this story for so many of the messages and themes found within the pages: supportive best friends, loving families, self worth, standing up for yourself even when you're afraid, working through your fears, The Civil Rights Movement, bravery, and courage. There is also a great story about how Jimmy Carter (who was running for president during the time this story takes place) was the only white person in his town to stand up to the KKK. Gabriel's dad tells him this story when he asks why the KKK doesn't like black people. Highly recommended. 5 stars.

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot of interesting stuff about Jimmy Carter, and the premise was cute. The book is short, but just the right length.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book - funny, funny! Set in the 70s, all about friendship between a boy and a girl who are different races. Awesome, hysterical, and a fast-read.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the two children and their summertime adventure of overcooming their fears. Children can relate to these characters, however, the themes of civil rights, Jimmy Carter's election, and the Bicentennial do not ring true in this setting for me. That said I actually lived in small town Georgia prior to and after Carter's election and worked as an elementary school librarian with 200 students. Yes, we had bullies, we were an integrated school, had a huge gap from very high to very low economic status which makes me say in 1976 that a sleepover with a black girl and a white boy wouldn't have happened and probably not having dinner at each other's homes, blacks and whites would not have been speaking on the same platform for Carter. Makes me wonder if the author did any research on this historic aspect of her story. I was going to hand this on to my daughter's classroom in Arkansas, but it goes in a library booksale. Also I will be finding some reviews of this title to see if anyone had a similiar viewpoint as mine.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle of the road book about a boy and a girl who decide to overcome their fears one summer. They make a list and start conquering them, but the risk elevates until they have captured the attention of some KKK members and put everyone around them on a racial collision course.

The ending let me down, but sections of the book were well done. I wouldn't necessarily recommend anyone run out and buy it, but if you want a quick read or if you're in need of Bicentennial-era young adult fiction then I wouldn't steer you away from it either.

[Aurora Dimitre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one that I read as a kid, and like all of those childhood books that are also about racism or abuse or poverty (and are also good, by the way, this doesn't include the heavy-handed ones where they shoehorn in a moral like they'll be shot if they don't), it has a different flavor reading it as an adult. Like. Jesus Christ.

[Janet Ngai · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of book is very interesting which always attract me to read more and more to find out what happen next. So I finish it very quickly.
Gabe is a small boy, and afraid of lots of things, spiders, corpses, loose cows, and just about everything related to the fifth grade. He doesn’t want go to fifth grade because there are some big strong guys always bully him. His best friend Frita Wilson, thinks Gabe needs some liberating from his fears, and she has a plan. They are going to spend the summer of 1976 facing each and ever one of the fears on Gabe’s list. Frita also make the list, during the time they help each other to cross off the list for growing courage.
But as the day become school day, Gabe still don’t want go to fifth grade even tough he cross off a lot of things that he afraid of because he still afraid of the big strong guy which are Duke and Frankie. And he thought Frita wouldn’t need him that much if he doesn’t go to fifth grade. But Frita’s brother just give him her list. The last thing Frita wrote about what she afraid is “not having Gabe with me in the fifth grade”. Well now he knows that Frita really care about him like he does.
Gabe’s pop told him one sentence that makes big point to him: “Ain’ nothing so scary when you’ve got people you love.” It was like a lock found its key and sprung open. Gabe suddenly got the answer for all. Fifth grade is scary, but if he stay at fourth grade, he won’t have Frita with him. That’s what being brave was all about. So he finally decide go to fifth grade.
And in the end he doesn’t scare of them anymore because he got the people that he love and he know they will always by his side and support on him.
The story is very lovely and made a lot of good point to the reader. The last sentence that really got my feeling: “Then maybe they’d figure out what love and courage were all about, and life would spring open like a lock that found it’s key.” That is real truth for me, because for me love is very important. And I think everyone think that too, if we find out love and courage beside us, life will be so much beautiful.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book at a used book store here in FL. It was shelved in the banned book section & there were many, brand new copies of this book on the shelf. I was intrigued by it so I picked it up.
I will keep my personal belief as to why I feel this book was challenged & possibly banned, there's a sticker on the book that says which county school it comes from & I know this district has had a run of bans & challenges. This book seems to be geared towards 5th graders.

It is not a quite a "coming of age" story but it was that feeling of a time between innocence & when the real world starts to enter a child's mind.

Frita & Gabriel are the best of friends in small town Georgia & they will be starting 5th grade together. Frita is the more confident of the 2 & Gabriel has a list of fears. So they each make a list of fears they both hope to overcome before 5th grade starts. It is also the summer of our country's bicentennial -1976-& the summer the Jimmy Carter is running for president.

It felt like a step back in time, children free to take off for the day on their bikes, spend time back & forth between each other's homes, sleeping in the yard in a tent- pure innocence for that age.

But something is said, behavior of other adults comes into the story & also race.

It was a positive story, showed how people, black & white, could come together & stand up for what is right.

I think it was a perfect book for this age to read & for adults also.

[Nadine · Rating 3 out of 5]

#civil rights #fear #anxiety
Quick read set in the 70's. Loved the aspect of facing fear and anxiety, which is why I purchased it. The friendship between and white and black student however was a bit of a stretch of the imagination and perhaps a bit of wishful thinking on the part of the author. But loved the fact that it had a strong female protagonist and depicted the possibilities of friendship across racial lines - but as "historical fiction" it would require a bit too much suspension of belief, pity it wasn't set in another time frame as that may have run truer.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gabriel and Frita have pinky promised each other to make a list of fears and then work through them together. Gabriel is afraid of more things than Frida. The one fear that sparks the promise is moving on to fifth grade. The book is set in 1976 and deals with racism, the election, as well as the main conflict of Gabriel's fears.

A sweet little story about two best friends going on little adventures together over the summer. Frida is a sweetheart and I rooted for Gabriel the entire time.

One caveat: the rally ending is a bit rushed. We're only given 23 pages from the idea of having the rally to the end of the novel. As an adult reader, I adore a courageous ending of fighting off racism with friendship and love, but I know it doesn't work like that. I wish Going had explored it just a little bit more.

[Vicky Mertz · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fourth grader and I read this book together. It is magnificent. Following friends, Frita and Gabe as they navigate their small town southern world in 1976. Themes of racism, loyalty, courage, fear and class are addressed in a very approachable and identifiable way. Some really beautiful descriptions and humor made this such an enjoyable read. Brave characters filled with humanity make this a book you won't forget.

[Diane Lupton · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for the theme - takes place in the decade you were born

What a great book to teach kids to overcome their fears. I feel like it did a great job conveying the message we are all alike, everyone is afraid of something. It also had a back plot of the segregation movement in the 70s. That little Frita is one tough girl. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend even to adults.

[Valory]

read for my children’s lit class pt 6

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud to George. Not his favorite, I'm not sure he was ready for this book, serious topics such as racism discussed, though we were able to have some good talks while we read.

[librarian4Him02 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot: The year is 1976. Gabriel King, just out of fourth grade, is afraid of many things, but moving up to fifth grade is the scariest thing of all. After all, he'll now be in the same wing of the school as Duke Evans and Frankie Carmen. Frita, Gabriel's best friend, also has fears some of which come from the prejudice people in their town have against black people. Frita decides that over summer she and Gabriel will make a list of their fears and face them one by one. This, she thinks, will make 5th grade far less scary for Gabriel, if he decides to move up, that is.

Why I picked it up: I learned about it from the blog motherreader.com. where she was making recommendations for summer reading. The idea of kids facing and overcoming their fears caught my attention.

Why I kept reading: In a word, Frita. She made the story for me. Her loyalty to help Gabriel was touching. I loved the strong themes of perseverance, friendship, family, and standing up to injustice.

In the end: It's a great coming of age story with characters that are easy to relate to. As I suspected it was a hope-filled story. It left me feeling curious to know how the characters, especially Duke and Frankie would turn out as they grew up.

I recommend this to children's book group leaders who are looking for a book that will generate discussion. Also to some of my church friends who are homeshcooling. This book will generate good conversation about facing and overcoming fears and how we do that.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A younger reader can appreciate the story of friendship and overcoming your fears. A more mature reader can read it and understand the deeper fears of the kids, their families, and the town. Gabe is a white boy in a racist town. He is an only child of poor parents living in a trailer park. Frita is a black girl in a racist town. She has an older brother involved in The Black Panthers and parents who fight for civil rights. Their school is integrated, but many people hate the fact a black girl is going to school there. Frita is afraid of Mr. Evans because he is mean. We know she should be afraid of him because he is in the KKK. This is one example of the many layers in the book.
I loved Frita and Gabe's friendship without prejudice, their innocence, and the life lessons they learn that summer.
I recommend this book for girls who enjoy reading or like books about friendship. I also recommend it for anyone interested in the Civil Rights Movement and how it affected children. It's too slow for reluctant readers and doesn't have enough action to make it a page turner. It wouldn't be a good match for that type of reader.

[Jaemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Fat Kid Rules the World, when I saw that K.L. Going had a new book out I just wanted to read it--I didn't really care what it was about. Last night I finally got to sit down with it, a couple hours later I was done.

For all that Gabriel King is apparently one tiny boy, he more than makes up for it in personality--even if he is a great big chicken. And that's where the liberating comes in. When Gabe misses Moving Up Day because of some bullies, his best friend Frita decides something has to be done. (Though it may be more his assurance that he will not leave the fourth grade that decides her.)

Frita comes up with a plan. Gabe writes a list of all his fears, and she decides they'll tackle them one by one until he has them all crossed off. Some he tackles a little better than others. And while he never does cross off all 38 fears, he does indeed find his courage. Maybe not the liberation Frita had in mind at the outset, but a liberation none the less.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Linda Lipko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gabriel King is shy and weary of the neighborhood bullies. On the last day of fourth grade he decides fifth grade is not an option. The biggest, nastiest bully will be in his school. His spunky, feisty friend Frita decides that it is time for Gabriel to face his fears.

Compiling a list of his fears, Frita systematically prods him to face them one by one over the summer in preparation for fall.

This is a cute book, but a boring one. The characters were not well developed. Considering the fact that the author previously won the Michael L. Printz honor for her book Fat Kids Rule, I expected more from The Liberation of Gabriel King. Since I only paid .50 for the book at a used book store, I'm glad I didn't waste a lot of money.

Not recommended.

[Maelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion, the book _Liberation_ is a funny book. In fact, when the author says, "So I tore that shirt off and peeled out of my overalls." (pg 44). I thought this was funny because after that he ran home. The theme of this would be a great message for me in life. The theme would be try your fears and don't give up. I wonder if Gabe isn't afraid of any of the bad stuff holding him back from going to school so he can go to school with Frita.?

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I still think Going's books are ridiculously manipulative and sickly sweet, this one does fit its age group better.

A white boy and a black girl both are afraid of things, they make a list and vow to work though their fears.

[Malbadeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly I was 3 starring this book but somewhere along the way I shrugged my shoulders and started 4 starring it - ? Probably because of all the references to Jimmy Carter. For some reason that I can't completely explain or even understand myself, I have an unreasonable affection for Jimmy Carter.

[Elle Drue · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fairly cute. Not really sure why it won an award, though. There are much better children/ya literature out there dealing with racism, in my opinion.

[Brenda Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging story of friendship and overcoming fears set in Georgia in 1976, winningly narrated.

[Jeremy Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

These kinds of books are tricky to review, particularly when the audience is younger children, like 9, 10, and 11 years old. On the one hand, this is a cute story about two best friends in the Summer of 1976, a white boy and a black girl from Georgia trying to overcome their fears, small and large, around the backdrop of a presidential election in which Jimmy Carter, himself a native and governor of the state, is vying for a seat in the White House. The relationship between the kids is innocent enough to allow for natural and nuanced discussions of race, particularly as Gabriel, overcoming his own fears of growing up and dealing with bullies, learns to empathize with the greatest fears of Frita and the way her family has dealt with hatred over the years, even before Frita was old enough to remember. But on the other hand, for a story that ends on diverse families attempting to address racism at a public rally, the author seems to offer up a cliche that love ultimately conquers all, which is misleading in the context of a still-racially divided society, in religion, in communities, in prisons, in income gaps and unemployment. Had I read this at the time it was published in 2005, I might have thought it was heartwarming and hopeful, but now, in 2020, I find it tired. It’s a well-enough written tale that I’m led to ask, as a teacher, whether it would at least serve as a starting point for healthy classroom conversation or whether it would feed a certain type of language into the minds and the mouths of those who never thought to use that language before, in which case, it could cause more harm than good. I’m truly on the fence.

[Nelson Banuchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful pre-teen read that my grandson Josiah recommended. Set in Georgia, 1976, when Jimmy Carter was president, Gabriel is a fearful white boy, afraid of practically everything, whose best friend is a tough little black girl, Frita, always looking out for him. Both have just graduated fourth grade and Gabriel is determined not to go fifth grade because he's afraid of being bullied. Frita, not wanting to go to fifth grade without her best friend, has the idea that each make a list of things they are afraid of and sets them both on a journey to overcome their fears.

I would recommend this book to any parent as, behind the larger issue of racial prejudice, lies the greater issue of childhood fears that need to be overcome. And I hope Going will write a sequel as I'm very much interested to read what becomes of Gabriel and Frita.

[Amanda Weeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up randomly at the library because it was an award winner. I thought it was a mostly sweet read about facing your fears -- in this case for a fourth grader who is scared of the fifth grade (and many other things). It's set in small town Georgia in the 1976, so racism is a prominent theme. However, the main characters are a white boy and a black girl who are best friends, and I wondered how likely that would have been, especially spending all their time together (including a camping sleepover). I did feel that a few parts might feel a little intense for the target age. I don't know if I would have loved this as a kid (I think it might have been to short for me to feel invested in it -- or even pick it up).

[Petra T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gabriel King is afraid of a number of things, he's a chicken! He's afraid of spiders, the rope swing, Terrance (Frita's big brother), and most of all, going to fifth grade. Gabe's African American best friend, Frita Wilson, says Gabe needs to do some liberating. So they make a list of all their fears and try to cross them off. Frita is very good at being brave, she is the only black kid in school and her famiy has faced the Ku Klux Klan before. Gabe and Frita spend the summer of 1976 crossing off fears. When summer came to an end, Gabe wasn't a chicken anymore. He and Frita almost crossed of all things on their fear list!
I really enjoyed this book, I would recommend it to people who would like to learn about racism and enjoy funny stories. This book is defenitly 5 stars!

[Tricia Vargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I end my school year reading this out loud to my fourth graders. To link to our lessons of the civil rights moment, K. L. Going writes about a story that shows true friendship, struggle, and fears of minorities. The story creates such great discussion among students and show great lessons. As an adult, I enjoy reading every year. Recommend starting with Kate DiCamillos Tiger Rising as the main characters are very similar and again add to discussions.

P. S. There is some inappropriate language to be aware of so recommend reading before using with children. However, the language is essential to create the mood of the story. Language can be carefully reread to be more appropriate and still create the tense mood of the characters.

[Culture-Vulture · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to give this book 3 stars, but I'm giving it 4 stars instead. This is because I'm certain the main reason I didn't enjoy the book as much as I could have is that I'm too old for it. I might have enjoyed it more when I was younger (and idealistic!!).

My main grouses: I found the ending hurried. The way it was all resolved so easily wasn't convincing. And I didn't much like either Frita or Gabe. Both were mildly annoying, and I can't imagine a younger me ever wanting to hang out with either of them.

Final verdict: A good read for a 4th grader. Very idealistic. The conclusion was too truncated, and the resolution felt hurried.