It's 1976 in a small town in Georgia. Frita is the only black girl in the school, and Gabriel is her best friend. They are in fact, each other's only friends. Gabriel is afraid of everything, and decides that he is going to repeat 5th grade rather than move up to 6th with Frita, because of the bullies in 7th grade. So Frita concocts a plan to make Gabriel face his fears, and she agrees to make a list and face a few fears of her own. Ultimately, Frita must face the harsh racism of a Klansman who is the father of one of those 7th grade bullies. And Gabriel must decide if he's brave enough to stand beside her.
A good tale about racism, friendship, loyalty, and courage.
Born in October of 1965, I was exactly Frita and Gabriel's age in 1976. My own school in North Carolina was fully integrated, and about half black, half white. Personally, I never witnessed any big racial conflicts; but I also never witnessed the kind of black/white friendship this book portrays. I didn't find it believable; this close friendship between a black girl and a white boy in 1976... but it was lovely to read about it, and wish it was so.
(Irrelevant side note: the publisher put the wrong type of spider in the jar on the cover. That is not a yellow garden spider.) ( )

I listened to this book on CD and thought that the narrator, while earnest, was ill-chosen.

The story itself was okay, although I found the premise too farfetched. The close friendship between a poor, phobic white 4th grade boy and a savvy, black girl of the same age felt forced, a vehicle to deliver all of the hard-won feel-goodness of the Carter era (remember?) and desegregation in the south in the 70s.

I have to shill this one to a game 10-year-old to see if the feel-good outweighs the farfetched. This title won a Printz honor--a surprise both because of its syrupy earnestness and its young audience. ( )

I listened to this book on CD and thought that the narrator, while earnest, was ill-chosen.

The story itself was okay, although I found the premise too farfetched. The close friendship between a poor, phobic white 4th grade boy and a savvy, black girl of the same age felt forced, a vehicle to deliver all of the hard-won feel-goodness of the Carter era (remember?) and desegregation in the south in the 70s.

I have to shill this one to a game 10-year-old to see if the feel-good outweighs the farfetched. This title won a Printz honor--a surprise both because of its syrupy earnestness and its young audience. ( )

This was a delightful pre-teen read that my grandson Josiah recommended. Set in Georgia, 1976, when Jimmy Carter was president, Gabriel is a fearful white boy, afraid of practically everything, whose best friend is a tough little black girl, Frita, always looking out for him. Both have just graduated fourth grade and Gabriel is determined not to go fifth grade because he's afraid of being bullied. Frita, not wanting to go to fifth grade without her best friend, has the idea that each make a list of things they are afraid of and sets them both on a journey to overcome their fears.

I would recommend this book to any parent as, behind the larger issue of racial prejudice, lies the greater issue of childhood fears that need to be overcome. And I hope Going will write a sequel as I'm very much interested in reading what becomes of Gabriel and Frita. ( )

It's summer 1976 in Georgia. The country is celebrating 200 years of independence, Jimmy Carter is running for president, and Gabriel King and his best friend Frita have decided to spend the summer conquering their fears. They both draw up lists: Gabriel's list includes spiders, centipedes and Frita's brother Terrence. Frita is afraid of the rope swing over the pond and the boorish, racist Evans family. With each other's encouragement they tackle one fear after the other, growing their courage. Then Gabe learns that #1 on Frita's list is the Ku Klux Klan and they learn it will take a lot of courage on their part and that of the community to conquer this fear.