  | Sources of light Author: McMullan, Margaret | |
| Price: $21.69 | ||
Summary:
Samantha, 14, and her mother move to Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962 after her father is killed in Vietnam, where she learns photography and sees prejudice and violence of the segregationist South.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG+ Reading Level: 5.20 Points: 8.0 Quiz: 136605 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 5.50 Points: 14.0 Quiz: 49792 | |
Common Core Standards
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → 4.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → 4.RL Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → 4.RL Craft & Structure
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → 4.RL Integration & Knowledge of Ideas
Grade 4 → Reading → RL Literature → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → 5.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → 5.RL Integration & Knowledge of Ideas
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → 5.RL Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 5 → Reading → RL Literature → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 6 → Reading → RL Literature → 6.RL Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 6 → Reading → CCR College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards fo
Grade 7 → Reading → RL Literature → 7.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 7 → Reading → RL Literature → 7.RL Range of Reading & LEvel of Text Complexity
Grade 7 → Reading → RL Literature → 7.RL Craft & Structure
Grade 7 → Reading → RL Literature → 7.RL Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 8 → Reading → RL Literature → 8.RL Key Ideas & Details
Grade 7 → Reading → CCR College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
Grade 8 → Reading → RL Literature → 8.RL Craft & Structure
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (03/15/10)
School Library Journal (+) (05/01/10)
Booklist (04/15/10)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (05/10)
The Hornbook (05/10)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 04/15/2010 In 1962, 14-year-old Sam and her mother move from Pennsylvania to Jackson, Mississippi, a city on the edge of social upheaval as racial tensions come to a head. All Sam wants is to “live her life staying out the way,” but she finds that hard to do after her mother, an art professor, teaches a class at the local all-black college and becomes a target of white supremacist groups. Perry, her mother’s photographer boyfriend, gives Sam a camera and the courage to record the sit-ins, voter registrations, and the violent rage provoked by peaceful protests. No one is demonized in this novel. McMullan, a Mississippi native, makes her characters complex, confused, and sympathetic. Most notably, Sam’s love interest, Stone, seems decided in his racism and dangerous in his convictions; but his search for right is just as important as Sam’s. In the end, readers will see the humanity of those on the wrong side of history, and may even feel compassion for them, too. - Copyright 2010 Booklist.
Bulletin for the Center... - 05/01/2010 Following her father’s death in Vietnam, fourteen-year-old Samantha and her mother move to Jackson, Mississippi to be near her father’s family. Mom has no sooner settled in to her position as an art history lecturer at a small college than her guest presentation at nearby Tougaloo College attracts the censure of white community members who are, in 1962, fighting civil rights tooth and nail. Perry Walker, a photographer who also teaches at Mom’s college, seems to be drawing her into both activism and romance, neither of which Sam condones. Perry softens Sam’s resistance, though, by lending her a camera and teaching her how to sharpen her power of observation through a lens, and soon Sam is capturing not only images of remarkable beauty but also the pervasive hatred that has gripped her new hometown. Sam develops a serious crush on Stone, the sixteen-year-old son of a respected-and bigoted-community leader. When Perry is beaten to death after a voter registration drive, Sam is tormented with the suspicion that Stone might have been involved, and it will take a roll of undeveloped film and an enormous act of courage to identify the perpetrators. Though the plethora of references to period events sometimes makes the book feel like a history lesson, they’re apropos to the focus of the novel. McMullan is particularly adept at detailing the escalating pressure on Samantha and her mother to conform to racist standards: vandalism, “friendly” advice with an imbedded threat, a harassing traffic arrest, vicious Halloween “pranks.” Fans of McMullan’s previous titles will appreciate the continuity of family line with When I Crossed No-Bob (BCCB 2/08), and they’ll ponder the legacy of race relations three generations later. EB - Copyright 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
School Library Journal - 05/01/2010 Gr 7–10— With the camera that her mother's colleague gives her, 14-year-old Samantha records a portrait of life in Mississippi during the year 1962–1963. Perry teaches her how to use it and in many ways how to see. He also sets a powerful example through his activism and determination to do the right thing. Sam begins her freshman year somewhat unaware of the racial tensions that exist around her. By the end of the school year though, she becomes acutely aware of the situation, and she and her mother are directly impacted by those struggles. Sam's personal life has its own pressures as she and her mother cope with the loss of her father in Vietnam the previous year, Perry and her mom grow closer, and Sam meets a boy who seems to be at odds with her views on racial equality. McMullan's characters are authentic to the time and place. The themes come through naturally, as do the imagery and symbolism of the camera. Like many novels that have civil rights at the center of them, this is not an easy read, but it is worth the effort. McMullan's well-chosen words realistically portray the conflicts that Sam, her mother, and those around them face. The truths the teen learns are timeless, allowing readers to identify with her. Make room on your library shelves for this one.—Hilary Writt, Sullivan University, Lexington, KY - Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
