Hello “change.” It’s 1964 and the country is moving in a new direction with civil rights, women’s equal rights, and let’s not forget about the music.

The story follows 13-year-old Corky who lives in a small town of Texas. She picks up “To Kill a Mockingbird” from the library and has a lot of questions. She wants someone to explain to her why there is racial prejudice and segregation in schools and businesses. Her father, Cal Corcoran, owns a drug store and she sees the beginning effects of the 1964 Civil Rights Act which prohibits discrimination on race, color, religion and sex.

Her mother, Belle, is not so happy staying at home as a housewife. Cal tells her that’s where she is needed. She is never satisfied with her helpers and Cal keeps employing new ones. Evangeline Wilcox is next on the list to give her a hand. She’s a Black lady who brings along her 16-year-old daughter whose name is America.

Everyone in town admires how America can run as fast as Wilma Rudolph who won a gold medal for track in the 1960 Olympics. Could America do the same? She joined a white girl’s church team which upsets a wealthy family with a lot of influence. Could she be stopped from playing?

This book is ideal for classrooms studying US history. It touches on several past events including school integration, the Vietnam war, women’s liberation and skips several years to the pandemic in 2020. The author clearly wanted to reveal what it was like to live in the mid 60s and gave readers a realistic image. There are quite a few names and at times, the reader has to figure out which ones are important. The love for dogs is apparent as Roy had a big role.

In her “Author Notes,” she includes the words from Winston Churchill: “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” And so, the ugly downfalls of the past are pointed out or us to see that in some ways we have moved on but we still have to improve our ways. It would be a good discussion.

My thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with this advanced copy of the book with an expected release date of January 30, 2024.

Mockingbird Summer
A Novel
by Lynda Rutledge
A book that truly touches your very soul. It really shows why she loved "To KIll a Mockingbird". I would buy this to keep on the guestroom shelf Brilliantly written.

Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this wonderful book. 

Firstly I was captivated by the cover of the book, so simple yet it was able to draw me in. 

Although I didn't experience the era in which this book was written, I could deeply grasp the heart-wrenching reality of segregation between whites and blacks. It's a profoundly saddening issue that left its mark on every part of the society, from churches and playgrounds to shops and schools.

As I delved deeper into the book, I found myself increasingly emotional, prompting me to set it aside at times to absorb the weight of the narrative.( I am very emotional 😪😓😭)

High Cotton,Texas is  a town divided by a railroad track, with the Southside reserved for blacks and the Northside for whites. When America and her mom(blacks) come work for Corky's family, a lot of things are bound to change and indeed a lot of things changed. 

My saddest moment in this book was when Mack lost his sight in one eye😥😓. It was a heartbreaking turn of events that left a lasting impact😭

Overall, I was impressed by the book's narrative, with its well-crafted characters and engaging storytelling. Despite not being my fave genre of choice, I found the book to be a pleasant surprise

This is my second book by Lynda Rutledge and it is terrific!
It takes place in the sixties in a small Texas town when life was so very different. (I remember)
There was segregation in towns- separated by railroad tracks, areas of stores for "different" folks.
People "stayed" on their side of the tracks
When Corky's father hires a Haitian helper for their home, and she brings her daughter; Corky knows she needs to be friends with this girl named America.
This girl is older than Corky and possesses amazing talent in both in softball and in running. She seems very wise.
Can they play softball on the same team?
Will this be accepted by the town and its people?
Can these two girls be friends?
I loved the writing, the details and the entire journey of Corky, her family and her friends.
It is so well done, I saw myself thinking back to these times and remembering that life was different in so many ways!
Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Lake Union Publishing for this ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.

Mockingbird Summer is a powerful coming of age story detailing 13 year old Corky navigating the racial divide in Texas in the 60s. She meets and befriends America whose Haitian mother has been hired to work for Corky’s family. While Corky doesn’t understand the racial division, the town definitely shows who belongs where. It turns out America is a very fast runner and also good at softball. America joins the softball team but struggles with fitting in. I enjoyed watching the beautiful friendship between Corky and America develop. I also loved that this is loosely based around the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. The ending was extremely touching and emotional. Definitely don’t miss out on this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What a great book. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read it for free.

Corky is growing up in Texas in the middle of the end of segregation. Her librarian gives her a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird," which raises more questions in the teen girls mind. Then she meets America who lives on the South Side. In a very short time they become fast friends. American is athletically talented like you wouldn't believe. She can run as fast as Wilma Rudolph. So Corky and her brother, Mack recruit her to play on their softball team - Mack coaches - it's a girls' team.

Even though I was in high school during this time frame, I obviously wasn't paying any attention to what was going on in the U.S. Now it makes sense to me. Yet it was very scary.

Rutledge is a pro when it comes to writing. She keeps the story moving, plants lots of red herrings and I will read anything she writes. I highly recommend this.

" America Willcox wjat took you so long? "
Mockingbird Summer by L. Ruthledge, published by Lake Union Publishing, is a sittengemälde, showing the mind and politics in the 1960ties. The highly anticipated book by the author of West with Giraffes captured me right from the start. I fell in insta-love with story and characters, the book is literally unputdownable.
" A powerful and emotional coming-of-age novel set amid the turmoil and profound changes of the 1960s " and I wholeheartedly agree.

This was my first Lynda Rutledge book so I looked forward to reading it. It was good to me but not great. Some of the more detailed parts were too much so and some were repetitive. Is a coming-of-age perspective in a turbulent time so is interesting but not captivating.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this sweet ARC.

Katherine "Corky" Corcoran is a 13 year old girl who is about to have a summer that will change her life. Outspoken and curious, Corky does not always conform to the expected stereotypes of a girl growing up in the 1960s, but so far, she has managed to pull it off despite frequent entreaties from her mother to be more ladylike.

Growing up in a segregated town in Texas with the history you would expect from a name like High Cotton, Corky's parents are sufficiently liberal that she has not observed much overt racism. But some of her grandfather's attitudes, as well as the railroad tracks that run through the town, tell a very clear story about who belongs where.

So, when Corky is given Harper Lee's classic novel to read, certain things about her hometown and its inhabitants become increasingly clear to her.

And when Corky's older brother, Mack, discovers that their Haitian housekeeper's daughter, America, is a talented runner, who can run almost as fast as the Olympic athlete Wilma Rudolph, a series of events are set in motion that will ensure that High Cotton is never the same again...

I really wanted to love this book. It references one of my favourite novels of all time, and belongs also to one of my favourite genres, which is coming of age stories. But it somehow fell a little short for me.

It may have been the pacing, where it felt like too many things were getting in the way of the primary story of Corky's awakening, her relationship with America, and what the latter's presence on the church girls baseball team brought out in elements of the High Cotton townspeople.

There was an unnecessary level of everyday details that slowed the story down. But the historical elements and the sense of dread that unfurled as the story progressed were well done. Worth a read, but while I liked the book, I did not love it as much as I would have wanted to.

i really liked this book, it was a great story showing just a glimpse of what things were like in 1960s texas.

corky’s perspective was great and the narrative stayed true to the character and how she was perceiving things at her young age.

the only chapter i could’ve done without was the one written in the dog’s point of view but otherwise a great read!

This brilliant coming-of-age story has jumped to the top of my favorite books list. It is compelling, complex and brilliant.

When 13-year-old Corky Corcoran meets America, the 16-year-old daughter of her mother’s house helper, she is mesmerized by her. She lends America her book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, because she learns that America has no books of her own. What she doesn’t realize is that this book will have a different meaning to a black girl than it does to a white girl. That is only her first error of judgment when it comes to this new friendship.

Corky is a very inquisitive child and tends to drive people crazy with all of her questions, but she’s also very astute and understands much more than she’s given credit for. After the church rivals girls softball game, which America is the star player, racial tensions run high and bad things happen.

I loved everything about this book, especially Corky. I’m going to buy the hard copy once it’s published (January 30, 2024) because I need this book on my “favorites” bookshelf. I highly recommend this 5-star book to everyone. It’s simply superb.

Thank you, NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advanced copy.

Mockingbird Summer is one of my favorite books of the year. It is the powerful coming-of-age story of thirteen-year-old Corky Corcoran as she navigates her way into young adulthood in the midst of the 1960's racial divide.

Corky loves to read and her librarian entrusts her with a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, feeling Corky is ready to handle this grown-up material.

Corky's father hires household help for his wife, the helper is a black woman from Haiti who brings along her daughter named America. Corky quickly befriends America, and they go outside where Corky enlists America's help in practicing softball. It is there that Corky realizes America's talent...she can run as fast as Wilma Rudolph, that fastest woman in the world. She recruits her to play on the church's softball team. This sets off a storm in racially divided High Cotton, Texas.

I loved Lynda Rutledge's storytelling abilities; I devoured this book in two days as I alternately devoured and savored this story, not wanting it to end. The characters were all so descriptively written that I felt like I knew each of them as people in my own town. Corky was such a plucky character, I loved everything about her, and it was a pleasure to see her grow and develop.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this novel, and many thanks to Lynda Rutledge for creating and sharing this inspiring novel with us all.

High Cotton, Texas, 1964. A divided town, and not just by the railway tracks which run though it.

It's where racial segregation will be challenged by two teenage girls and a softball match. And, for one at least, the events of that summer will last a lifetime

I love this book so much! I finally got to see what it might have been like when my mom was growing up in the 1950's!
When Willy and Cole's dad had that accident I felt like I was actually seeing my husband's and his Papaw's accident. Just wow!! I really loved this novel!
Here's a quote that I want to share because this is exactly how I feel when I'm playing in the orchestra. Classical music soothes the soul many times over.
Here's what America said to Corky about running
“It’s all kinds of things at once,” she began. She looked past Corky. “It feels like . . . like I can move as fast as the world is turning and I can feel it through my toes . . . yet it’s also like I’m somehow stopping time and I’m the only thing moving and any moment I could lift off like a bird, as if I’ve got wings on my feet. “And inside me, the whole time,” America went on, the smile broader,dreamier, “I feel this huge blessed bliss . . . like . . . like . . . at any moment I just might burst into some kind of Almighty glory . . .”
I know exactly how that feels with my music! Just wow! America has hit it head on! Love it!
Here's another quote this one made me cry because there's so very few good people in this world anymore
“Stay open, child. Don’t let the world close you down. God knows it’s gonna try—and God knows it can do it. Stay open so your heart can do what it’s supposed to do. If you do, I know it’s going to be something good. Just like I know it for America.”
From the Southside Baptist Preacher to Corky. I think that this man's heart was in the right place and that's why he quickly became my favorite character. I also loved his church because it's the one that felt the most like home to me. I found myself looking and imagined how the alter mural looked like. So beautiful!
The character I felt most sorry for was Pastor Pete. In my opinion he represented a sheep in wolves clothing so to speak. By the time he realized it it was too late.
In the end, I felt that he done the right thing my only hope is that he's learned his lesson.
Racism is very strong in this novel that the author has done very well with. There are mean people in this world no matter who what or where you are.
America made me want to cry in places too. She tried so hard to be liked and fit in. I think that's why I connected to her right away! I hope she's loved and respected wherever she and her family land.
My thanks for an awesome read that will be on my shelf of favorite books!
5 stars for an excellent read that I very much enjoyed! I finished in one evening. I couldn't go to sleep until I finished Corky and America's story!
My thanks for a copy of this book. I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.