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Title details for If the Fire Comes by Tracy Daley - Available

If the Fire Comes

A Story of Segregation during the Great Depression

by Tracy Daley
Eric Freeberg
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
It's 1935, and the Great Depression and California drought has left eleven-year-old Joseph McCoy shining shoes to help his family survive. Through his hard work and games with his sister, Joseph has figured out how to get by as one of the few black people in a mostly white community. But the order of the town is disrupted when an all-black Civilian Conservation Corps camp comes to Elsinore, sparking racial tension. It isn't long before prejudice spreads like wildfire and threatens to force the work camp to leave. Could Joseph's secret project save the camp and bring his family hope for the future? If not, the whole town just might go up in flames.

It's the storytellers that preserve a nation's history. But what happens when some stories are silenced? The I Am America series features fictional stories based on important historical events about people whose voices have been excluded, lost, or forgotten over time.

  • Creators

  • Series

    I Am America Set 2

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 1, 2019

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781631633737

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781631633737
      • File size: 9151 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 770
    • Text Difficulty: 3-4

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      Starred review from August 1, 2019
      Joseph McCoy is a budding spy and the "best shoeshine in Elsinore, California." In 1935, Joseph shines shoes to earn money. During a shoeshine, the 11-year-old African American boy learns that a segregated company of the Civilian Conservation Corps will be setting up camp outside of town near his home, where he and older sister Maya, who has lost the use of her legs to polio, keep pigeons. When he's one dime short for birdseed, he asks town oddball Mr. Healey, a poor white man, if he can shine his shoes to earn the money. An unlikely rapport develops between the two. Joseph finds an additional way to earn money when he meets George, a black CCC member who pays him to find some pigeons. When a white woman who protested the arrival of the corps is accidentally knocked down by George, a campaign ensues to have the CCC removed from the town, and racial tensions heighten. The story unfolds smoothly, with lots of action; faux newspaper articles and other "archival" material are interspersed between chapters. The author's skillful blend of fact and fiction is backed up by fascinating backmatter that includes black-and-white photographs and easy-to-decipher infographics. Although racial hostility is on display in abundance, the text does not include racial slurs. Historical facts are woven into the story with such finesse readers will be eager to learn more. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

      COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:770
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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