Finding Langston

Starred review from May 1, 2018
A Great Migration novella with a vivid, believable protagonist.When Langston's mother dies in 1946, his father feels that Alabama has nothing left for him and moves himself and Langston to Chicago, where Negroes could make a living wage and avoid the severe discrimination so prevalent in the South. A sensitive boy who loved his mother deeply, Langston has spent so little time with his father that he doesn't really know him. When he becomes the target of schoolyard bullies who call him "country boy," his loneliness sends him to the George Cleveland Hall branch of the Chicago Public Library, where he learns that African-Americans are welcome, which is different from Alabama. A kind librarian helps him find books--including poetry by Langston Hughes, for whom she assumes he has been named. From snooping into letters his dad has saved, he realizes that his mother loved the poetry of Langston Hughes, which inspires him to read everything Hughes has written. Cline-Ransome creates a poignant, bittersweet story of a young black boy who comes to accept his new home while gaining newfound knowledge of the African-American literary tradition. Langston's heartfelt, present-tense narration, which assumes a black default, gathers readers so close they'll be sad to see his story conclude.A fascinating work of historical fiction that showcases a well-developed, likable protagonist and presents Cline-Ransome at her best. (Historical fiction. 9-13)

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Starred review from April 15, 2018
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Langston wishes he was back in Alabama. The 11-year-old's mother was barely dead and buried before his father moved them to Chicago, where, in 1946, a man can provide for his family without always scraping and bowing. But to Langston, Chicago is loneliness and lacking?no friends, family, or good food, just his dad's bad cooking. Three bullies make life even harder. Then he discovers something that amazes him: a public library, and it's not just for whites like the one back home. This branch library not only welcomes African Americans, it celebrates successful black men and women, especially writers. The library becomes Langston's everything?his space away from his tiny apartment, his refuge from the bullies, the expansion of his world through books. It is also the place where he finds his namesake, Langston Hughes, and begins to find himself. Cline-Ransome, lauded for her picture books, including Booklist's 2017 Top of the List title Before She Was Harriet, proves herself an adept novelist, one with keen insight into the human condition. Every character, child and adult, is layered, a feat made more remarkable by the fact that the writing is spare. Emotions and relationships are teased out through quiet details and glimmers of understanding, but the impact on the reader could not be more powerful. A memorable debut novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 1, 2018
When Langston's mother dies, his father relocates the two of them from rural Alabama to the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, where they live in a cramped apartment, barely communicate with each other, and stifle their grief. It's the 1940s; his father works long hours at a paper plant, and school is a dreadful place where Langston is bullied for being a country boy. Then Langston discovers the George Cleveland Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library, where he finds the poetry of Langston Hughes. Struck by their shared name, Langston checks out the books and hides them from kids at school and his father, reading them in brief snatches when nobody is around. Is there a connection between himself and Langston Hughes? Reading poetry becomes Langston's way to keep his mother's memory alive, find solace from grief, and make a friend. Written in short chapters, 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 library and Langston Hughes 'bout the only thing that kept me going without my mama, Langston says, a sentiment that may resonate with any child who has experienced grief or loneliness, or has had a strong connection to literature. julie hakim azzam

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2018
When Langston's mother dies, his father relocates the two of them from rural Alabama to the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, where they live in a cramped apartment, barely communicate with each other, and stifle their grief. It's the 1940s; his father works long hours at a paper plant, and school is a dreadful place where Langston is bullied for being a country boy. Then Langston discovers the George Cleveland Hall Branch of the Chicago Public Library, where he finds the poetry of Langston Hughes. Struck by their shared name, Langston checks out the books and hides them from kids at school and his father, reading them in brief snatches when nobody is around. Is there a connection between himself and Langston Hughes? Reading poetry becomes Langston's way to keep his mother's memory alive, find solace from grief, and make a friend. Written in short chapters, 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 library and Langston Hughes 'bout the only thing that kept me going without my mama, Langston says, a sentiment that may resonate with any child who has experienced grief or loneliness, or has had a strong connection to literature. julie hakim azzam

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
In 1940s Chicago, recent Southern transplant Langston discovers Langston Hughes's poetry at the public library. Reading poetry helps the boy keep his late mother's memory alive, find solace from grief, and make a friend. Written in short chapters, this crisply paced book is full of historical details of the Great Migration and African American literary culture, and should resonate with any child who's experienced grief or loneliness.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from August 1, 2018

Gr 2-5-It's 1946 and 11-year-old Langston, named after Langston Hughes, has just moved from Alabama to Chicago with his father following the death of his mother. Langston feels isolated and is bullied at school, and every day he misses Alabama: the dirt roads, his Grandma and her cooking, and the sound of Mama's voice. When Langston accidentally stumbles into the public library to ask for directions, he realizes that, unlike in Alabama, black people are allowed in the library, and portraits of esteemed black literary figures hang on the walls. Langston secretly visits the library daily and is pulled into the poetry of Langston Hughes, discovering his namesake. As the bullying at school intensifies and tragedy strikes his family, Langston finds solace with his neighbor, Miss Fulton, who reads Hughes's poetry out loud to him in the evenings. Cline-Ransome presents a stunning story of a boy during the Great Migration who finds his longing for the South and his father's fondness for the blues reflected in Hughes's poetry. Langston's observations about the world are astute, whether it's his realization of the burdens his father carries or how men on the street look at women. Readers who have struggled with grief, identity, racism, bullying, or loneliness will find their experiences reflected in this beautifully written novel, which has a satisfying, but not-too-tidy ending. VERDICT Cline-Ransome's novel is an engaging, quick, and relatable read that skillfully incorporates themes of race, class, post-war American life in the North and South, and a bit of Langston Hughes' poetry. This is a story that will stay with readers long after they've finished it. A first purchase for all libraries.-Liz Anderson, DC Public Library

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