The Liberation of Gabriel King by KL Going

“My best friend, Frita Wilson, once told me that some people were born chicken,” begins Gabriel King, and he is convinced he is one of them. He is afraid of thirty eight things, among them: fifth grade, bullies Matt Evans and Frankie Carmen, spiders, alligators, earwigs, loose cows, robbers, centipedes, falling into the toilet, and calling a teacher “momma” by accident.

It is the summer of 1976 in a small town in Georgia, where Gabe is the most picked-on boy in school, while Frita is the only black girl in town. Frita convinces Gabe that it’s time he conquered his fears and all summer, she helps him cross off each of the 38 fears on his list before they move up to fifth grade together. But it turns out that Frita has her own list, and while she and Gabe are facing the things they’re afraid of, she’s secretly avoiding her greatest fear: the Ku Klux Klan that’s active in their town.

This is one of the few books for young readers I’ve read that deal with the nature of fear and confront it in a very mature way, showing how you can be scared and yet be brave at the same time. I also like how the book reveals the reality of racism, and tempers it with friendship, understanding, and family, and balances the gravity of the issues it tackles without taking any fun out of the book.

Plus points for book design,too :)

***
My copy: put up for mooching last year

My rating: 4/5 stars