Author: Deborah Wiles
Summary: In the summer of 1964, two boys get to witness segregation being demolished. The narrator, a white boy who remains nameless throughout the book, is best friends with his family's hired help's son, John Henry Waddell. The boys enjoy the summer playing and swimming in a creek and their summer fun seems to increase dramatically with the news of segregation ending, which will allow the two boys to do things together in public, such as swimming in a pool or buying ice cream. The next day to the boys' surprise, the pool is tarred over and the narrator begins to realize how his friend was promised equality but is still denied it.
Lesson: I would do this book as a read aloud to my class on the theme of equality. I would read the introduction of this book, which describes the summer of 1964 historically, and then give move information of the time period of this book. Afterwards, I would read the story, stopping throughout the book to ask the students questions. At the end, I would open up the floor to discussion of what the students thought about the book. I would have the students think about how they feel about this book along with any questions they want to ask. After a few minutes of quietly thinking, I would have students share their thoughts and questions with a partner and then later, share them with the class as a whole. Students would lead the discussion of equality of the summer of 1964, or the lack there of, and how they would feel if they were in that generation along with how their life would be different if segregation had never ended.
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