Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson

• 2017 Copyright
• Genre:  Historical Fiction
• Grade Level: 5th - 7th 
• Reading Level: 6th
• Length: 320 pages
• Publisher:  HMH Books for Young Readers (January 3, 2017)
• My Rating: 4 out of 4
• Readability: Good story!  Well Written. History comes alive. Mature Readers....not sensitive readers....violence, language, tough issues... Newbery Contender!
• Division 2
• Summary:  Rose Lee Carter, a thirteen-year-old African-American girl, dreams of life beyond the Mississippi cotton fields during the summer of 1955, but when Emmett Till is murdered and his killers are unjustly acquitted, Rose is torn between seeking her destiny outside of Mississippi or staying and being a part of an important movement.

This book took me a few chapters to want to continue reading. I have been on the track of abandoning books lately. But, I continued and was very pleased with this book.  It is a book that might be tough to read because it has lots of violence and language.  I would be particular about which 5th grader I would give this book to. It is not for a sensitive reader.  

I kept thinking that this book took place in 1955 and that is not ancient history but it felt maybe even 100 years older. The culture of the deep South and a African American family are the key elements of the story. It is something that is not familiar to someone raised in Minnesota. 

This book has been well reviewed and may be one of those books that will tossed around as a Newbery contender for the writing and story for 2018. 

This book is the author's first novel for middle grades.  She has a sequel coming out in January 2018 called A SkyFull of Stars.