Jonathon Scott Fuqua vividly evokes life in a small Southern town in this powerful story of friendship, race, and learning to trust your own voice—in a world that doesn’t always welcome what you have to say. "From my back porch, I can see where my best friend lives. Evette’s tenant house sits on my daddy’s property . . . but on account of her being black and me being white, she hardly ever comes in my house, and I don’t go in hers. My daddy says that’s just the way it is." Darby Carmichael thinks her best friend is probably the smartest person she knows, even though, as Mama says, Evette’s school uses worn-out books and crumbly chalk. Whenever they can, Darby and Evette shoot off into the woods beyond the farm to play at being fancy ladies and schoolteachers. One thing Darby has never dreamed of being - not until Evette suggests it - is a newspaper girl who writes down the truth for all to read. In no time, and with more than a little assistance from Evette, Darby and her column in the Bennettsville Times are famous in town and beyond. But is Marlboro County, South Carolina, circa 1926, ready for the truth its youngest reporter has to tell? Grades 4-6--In a small town in Marlboro County, SC, in 1926, nine-year-old Darby Carmichael, the daughter of a white farmer and storekeeper, loves to play out in the woods with her friend Evette Robinson, the daughter of a black sharecropper. When Evette declares her ambition to write newspaper articles, she inspires Darby to follow suit. At first, the girl's efforts merely amuse the readers of the Bennettsville Times, but after lots of editorial help from Evette, Darby writes observant, thought-provoking columns. However, when the girl responds to a racially motivated murder by writing an article urging whites to treat blacks as equals, her family becomes the target of hatred and violence. The author's research, drawn from oral interviews, provides a balanced portrayal of an early-20th-century Southern community. Darby's first-person narration conveys self-awareness uncanny for a nine-year-old, and evokes the mood of a memoir. Darby's friends are not as fully developed as some of the adults, such as the newspaper editor and her parents, who, despite their apprehensions, ultimately make courageous choices. Darby herself is an admirable heroine who radiates confidence while maintaining humility. Farida S. Dowler, formerly at Bellevue Regional Library, WA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Gr. 4-7. Growing up in the South in the 1920s, Darby is busy with her ninth birthday party, happy with her friends, "telling secrets and passing notes." But when a black sharecropper's son is beaten to death for stealing a chicken and nothing is done about it, she is forced to confront the racism all around her. She writes a column about civil rights for the local newspaper, and the KKK responds by burning a cross in her yard and hurling bricks through the window of her father's store. The story is based on oral history interviews Fuqua has been doing in Marlboro County, South Carolina, and there's a strong sense of time and place; in fact, the detailed scene setting may be a bit too leisurely for the young audience. But Darby's first-person narrative is frank and immediate without being cute, expressing what it's like for an ordinary white kid who suddenly discovers evil--and courage--where she lives. This is Fuqua's first book for young readers and it will certainly have crossover appeal for his older fans. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Jonathon Scott Fuqua is the author of THE REAPPEARANCE OF SAM WEBBER, an acclaimed debut that received an American Library Association’s 2000 Alex Award as the "best adult novel for young adults." The characters in DARBY are loosely based on a series of oral history interviews the author conducted in Marlboro County, South Carolina, over a three-year period. "In the end," he says of this novel, "I hope that the book does justice to good people born into troubling times, some of whom, in small ways, helped lay the foundation for change and justice." Jonathon Scott Fuqua teaches writing and art in Baltimore, Maryland, where he lives with his wife and daughter. Hearing voices, I raised my eyes and saw Evette and her older brothers halfway down the dirt lane to their house. I got up and met them. "Hey, Joebean and Lucius," I told them. "Hey Darby," they said. Evette pointed at the notebook I had. "You got another story writ up?" Nodding, I said, "You wanna edit it?" "Long as my name gets in the paper." "It's gonna," I promised. "I sat outside while Evette changed into her play clothes. Then we went through the field and into the woods. Sitting down on top of a log, she read what I'd done. She read it agai, and lifting her face real slow, she gave me a look. "Is it okay?" I asked. "Just needs some smoothing out. This one's done more professional than the last." She smiled at me. "Do
