Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood

196 pages

"Frankie yanked at his towel. 'I hope the pool's even open,' he mumbled.
'Wait a minute,' I said. 'It'll be open. I'm going swimming. Why would they close the Community Pool now, when everybody needs a place to swim?'
'I heard something.'
'Nobody's closing our pool. Where'd you hear that?'
'My daddy. But it's a secret,' Frankie answered, and headed off like he hadn't said a thing.
I raced after him, all the time thinking why in tarnation would our pool be closing on the hottest day of the summer, just twelve days before the Fourth of July, my twelfth birthday? And what was the big secret anyhow?" -Back Cover

This was a good book for a middle grade reader about the beginnings of the civil rights movement in the south. There's no cross burning or rallies. It's a lot like The Help in its style. It touches on the aspect of how hard it was for many southerners to change their thinking about how things had always been. Glory is the daughter of the town preacher. Freedom Fighters have recently come to town to fight for equal rights and Glory befriends the daughter of one of the doctors who has come to work in the free clinic. Meanwhile, Glory's older sister has started dating Robbie Fox, a boy who's come to stay with his grandmother and whose secret is that he spent some time in jail for defending his African American friend in a diner.

Glory is upset about the pool being closed at first because it will ruin her birthday. As she starts to understand the reason it was closed, she is inspired to take action. She writes a letter to the editor of the newspaper expressing her displeasure. Her letter is not printed but it causes quite a stir among some of the town council who in turn want her father to discipline her. Instead, her father tells her how proud he is of her.

Glory learns, over the course of a summer, about how--in her words--hateful prejudice is like dog poop: they both stink. She learns that some people are just mean while others are good. Some people want to hold on to their prejudices and are afraid of change, while others want to help precipitate change for the better. Her new friend from up north, the town librarian, and her maid, Emma, all play a role in helping Glory realize what is wrong with the town and how a child can make a difference. I liked that message and also how in the end the library brought the good townspeople together. Glory gives her father courage to speak up and stand up to those who try to make the rules. He tells the ornery old crank on the town council that "books have no color. And they don't care who reads them." One person can make a difference if he/she has the courage to.