Yard War

July 1, 2015
When Trip Westbrook asks Dee, the son of his family's maid, to play football in his yard, he does not know what he's starting. Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964 is in the middle of the civil rights struggle, and the sight of a black youngster playing ball with whites is seen as a threat to the status quo. In his 12 years, Trip has seen only the good side of his neighbors and his grandparents, but now he is forced to face their prejudice. One exception is his father, a doctor who thinks the family should relocate to avoid the segregation that dictates separate waiting rooms for patients. When Trip tries to get Dee served at the country club restaurant, he draws angry attention, and Dee accuses him of using him to prove a point. The situation just keeps escalating. Kitchings maintains a light tone despite the seriousness of the subject. Narrator Trip is believable as a sheltered boy on the cusp of adolescence. Dee and his mother are only somewhat fleshed-out given readers see them only through Trip's eyes. The story does not sugarcoat the ugliness, even in church. An author's note explains the use of terminology from the period, including offensive racial slurs, an important addition given the story's target audience. In the end, this is another white kid's story about the civil rights era, but it's notable for its illustration of how resistance to change affected whites as well as African-Americans. (Historical fiction. 10-12)

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June 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-It's the fall of 1964, just after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Trip Westbrook lives with his parents in Jackson, MI. They have a black maid, Willie Jane, who serves as a sort of second mother to Trip and his sisters. When Trip invites Willie Jane's son, Dee, to join in for a game of football in the front yard, he unwittingly sets off a chain reaction of bigotry and harassment. But it's when he tries to bring Dee to lunch at the all-white country club that the tightly knit community turns inside out. This is an unusual book. There is a solid coming-of-age story and there is some football, though the cover design may throw off some readers: students who come looking for typical sports fiction might be disappointed. While a pick-up game is the occasion for the events that drive the plot, the sport itself is a small fraction of the story. At times the action is intense. True to usage at the time, Kitchings's narrator refers to African Americans as "colored" and "Negroes." The use of a more offensive epithet is limited, but does occur repeatedly. The scenes in which Trip is persecuted by the ignorant Bethune brothers (and their hateful father) are compelling and cringe-inducing. Nonetheless, the racist violence, verbal and physical, is historically significant and amount to a stinging indictment of the hypocrisies of the culture. VERDICT This is a challenging but worthwhile portrait of a very difficult period in American history.-Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015
Grades 4-7 Trip Westbrook wants to play football, so he invites his maid's son, Dee, to join him. Dee is a fantastic player, and the boys strike up a friendship, but in 1964, their neighborhood isn't ready to see races mixeven when playing football in the front yard. When Trip's actions lead to threats on his family, he begins questioning the status quo. He wonders why he has to live by Mississippi's unspoken rules and whether his elders are right in their beliefs. Kitchings' debut offers a look at the civil rights movement from one boy's perspective and reflects upon rights that people should have, no matter their race. Although there is some mild violence and the author uses some offensive language to reflect the times, Trip's journey is a sensitive account about how one person can slowly make a difference. Things don't turn out perfectly, but there is hope in the end, and that's what really makes a difference.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)