The fight for civil rights

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon is a gripping exploration of the Civil Rights Movement in 1968. Sam is 14 and he's always obeyed his father, an eloquent civil rights leader who's committed to a path of nonviolence. Sam witnesses police brutality toward a friend of his, and then he learns that his older brother Stick is a member of the Black Panthers, whose beliefs are opposite of what he's been learning at home. Coupled with the news of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sam wants to do something, but he's torn by the two vastly different approaches to action and the growing conflict within his own family. This was a hard book for me to read for many reasons: the uncalled for violence, the desperation of people trying to do the right thing, the horror at how many were treated. However, this is an important piece of history to know about, and the book would be a good tie-in with the new Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C.