A Summer of Kings

A Summer of Kings by Han Nolan

Published in 2006 by Harcourt Books

"Last summer a murderer came to live with us."

Summary: During the summer of 1963 King-Roy Johnson, an 18 year old black man accused of killing a white man, comes to live with the family of 14 year old Esther Young. She is the outcast of her family with no special talent like her siblings. Esther wants this summer to be exciting and is interested in King-Roy's story. She wants to get to know him, although she likes him as more than a friend - "I decided this would be the summer of a new me, a more mature me, a more mysterious and exotic me, and I was determined that our new houseguest, the murderer, was to play a starring role in my new life." (page 4)  King-Roy has turned to following Malcolm X after a horrible incident back in Alabama. Esther is drawn to MLK's views and wants all the violence to stop. Their oposing views bring conflict to the friendship and together they must figure out how to make things work while still doing what they can to stop racial discrimination. The ending is very sad - it made me angry at first but it makes the story all the more powerful.