K.L. Going: The Liberation of Gabriel King

G.P. Putnam (Hardcover), ISBN 039923991X

Gabriel King and his best friend Frita just graduated from fourth grade, and Frita can’t wait till next fall and fifth grade. But Gabe plans to stay back — forever if he can. He makes a list of things that scare him, and the older bullies who wait on the playground to beat him up top the list. Centipedes, Frita’s mean big brother, getting his hand chopped off in his mamma’s blender and about thirty other scary things finish off his “What I’m Afraid Of” list. But his best friend Frita thinks she can help. The two pinky-swear to stick together and conquer his demons, starting with spiders, #4 on Gabe’s list.

What Gabe doesn’t know, and Frita doesn’t admit to, is that Frita also fears a few things. The young African American girl faces racial prejudice in their little Georgia town, and while keeping this a secret, she secretly writes it at the top of “My Fear List.” When Gabriel learns about Frita’s list, he hopes their plan to face their fears, even if it means being polite to the father of the school bully, will turn out for Frita just like owning a pet spider has for him.

The country’s 1976 Bicentennial and Jimmy Carter’s presidential campaign play into this funny, poignant, delightfully told coming-of-age story. What a perfect way to introduce young readers to a difficult topic and to two likeable, well-drawn characters and their families.

K.L. Going’s earlier book, Fat Kid Rules the World, won a Printz honor. This is her first book for middle-grade readers.

Augusta Scattergood

Augusta Scattergood, a librarian and member of SCBWI, reads and reviews books from her home in New Jersey.