Leaving Lymon

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Leaving Lymon

Title:

Leaving Lymon

Author:

Cline-Ransome, Lesa, author.

Series:

Finding Langston ;

Series Number:

Summary:

"Behind every bad boy is a story worth hearing and at least one chance for redemption. It's 1946 and Lymon, uprooted from his life in the Deep South and moved up North, needs that chance. Lymon's father is, for the time being, at Parchman Farm--the Mississippi State Penitentiary--and his mother, whom he doesn't remember all that much, has moved North. Fortunately, Lymon is being raised by his loving grandparents. Together, Lymon and his grandpops share a love of music, spending late summer nights playing the guitar. But Lymon's world as he knows it is about to dissolve. He will be sent on a journey to two Northern cities far from the country life he loves--and the version of himself he knows." -- Amazon.com.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

199 pages ; 22 cm

Subject Term:

Family problems -- Juvenile fiction.

Moving, Household -- Juvenile fiction.

African Americans -- Juvenile fiction.

Geographic Term:

Milwaukee (Wis.) -- History -- 20th century -- Juvenile fiction.

Chicago (Ill.) -- History -- 20th century -- Juvenile fiction.

Publisher:

Holiday House,

Publication Date:

2020

ISBN:

9780823444427

Publication Information:

New York : Holiday House, [2020]

Call Number:

J CLINERANSOME

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003385831	Juvenile Fiction	CLINERANSOME	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A companion novel to Finding Langston , recipient of a Coretta Scott King Writing Honor and winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction.

Behind every bad boy is a story worth hearing and at least one chance for redemption. It's 1946 and Lymon, uprooted from his life in the Deep South and moved up North, needs that chance.

Lymon's father is, for the time being, at Parchman Farm--the Mississippi State Penitentiary--and his mother, whom he doesn't remember all that much, has moved North. Fortunately, Lymon is being raised by his loving grandparents. Together, Lymon and his grandpops share a love of music, spending late summer nights playing the guitar.

But Lymon's world as he knows it is about to dissolve. He will be sent on a journey to two Northern cities far from the country life he loves--and the version of himself he knows. In this companion novel to the Coretta Scott King Honor wining Finding Langston , readers will see a new side of the bully Lymon in this story of an angry boy whose raw talent, resilience, and devotion to music help point him in a new direction.

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection!
Named a Best Multicultural Children's Book by the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature
A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year!
A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book

Praise for Finding Langston , a Coretta Scott King Honor Book and winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

"There aren't any explosions in this spare story. Nor is there a happy ending. Instead, Langston discovers something more enduring- solace."--The New York Times

* "this crisply paced book is full of historical details of the Great Migration and the role a historic branch library played in preserving African American literary culture."--The Horn Book, Starred Review

* "This is a story that will stay with readers long after they've finished it."-- School Library Journal , Starred Review

* "The impact on the reader could not be more powerful. A memorable debut novel." --Booklist, Starred Review

* "A fascinating work of historical fiction . . . Cline-Ransome at her best."-- Kirkus Reviews , Starred Review

* "Finding Langston is about cultural heritage and personal growth and, at its heart, about finding home wherever you land."-- Shelf Awareness, Starred Review

Author Notes

Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of almost twenty books for young readers. Her work has received a plethora of honors, including dozens of starred reviews, NAACP Image Award nominations, Coretta Scott King Honors, and a Christopher Award, and has been named to ALA Notable Books and Bank Street Best Children's Books lists. She lives in Rhinebeck, NY, with her husband and collaborator James E. Ransome.

Reviews (1)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 3--7--This companion to Finding Langston is set between the years of 1938 and 1947 when African Americans lived under Jim Crow laws. The novel opens with Lymon and his paternal grandparents, Ma and Grandpops, visiting Parchman Farm, where Lymon's father is incarcerated. In the evenings, Grandpops teaches Lymon how to play Delta blues on the guitar. When Grandpops dies, Ma and Lymon move from Mississippi to Milwaukee to be near family, and Lymon takes Grandpops' guitar with him. Lymon's frustration with his father's absence and school discipline leads to truancy, which Ma overlooks as she grows ill. When Ma has to be hospitalized, Lymon's mother, who lives in Chicago, takes him in. Unfortunately, Momma's husband Robert beats Lymon, breaks his guitar, and takes money that Aunt Vera sent to Momma. Lymon runs away with the money, and ultimately lands himself in the Arthur J. Andy Home, a juvenile detention center. Like its predecessor, this novel is set during the Great Migration, and readers learn that Lymon is one of Langston's bullies. Cline-Ransome focuses on the unfair treatment of black men and boys, a problem that endures today. Throughout the story, location and music are tied to Lymon's character arc: when Lymon is able to play in the band at the juvenile detention center, he begins to envision his new life with Ma and Daddy. Major and minor characters are equally well crafted. Through characters of all ages, Cline-Ransome explores how a person's treatment of others is developed through nature and by the circumstances they have been dealt. VERDICT Balancing rich history and timeless themes of race, instability, and the importance of music and the arts, this title is another must-have from Cline-Ransome.--Liz Anderson, DC Public Library