THE LIBERATION OF GABRIEL KING
By K.L. Going
Scholastic, 2005
It turns out that I find it hard to blog about books when I am writing. This in addition to how hard I find it to blog about writing when I am writing. Who knew I was such a complicated artist? Anyway, I now have a To Blog pile that is nearly as tall as my To Read pile. It is time to get caught up and put some of the books in this house onto actual bookshelves.
So, THE LIBERATION OF GABRIEL KING.
I read this book with the kids and highly recommend it as a family read-aloud. It is the story of Gabriel, a “born chicken”, and his friend Frita, who dedicates herself to helping Gabriel face his fears. This book ignited amazing conversations about race and friendship and courage and cowardice.
My favorite scene takes place at the neighborhood pond. Frita and Gabriel have gone there to attempt the dreaded rope swing. To make their fear-facing moment even scarier, the pond is swimming with neighborhood bullies. “You’ll never make it,” the bullies taunt from the ground as Frita and Gabriel sit in the tree and stare at the rope. But Frita and Gabriel do make it. And as the friends—one white and one black, one confident and one not-so-sure—bask in their rope swing glory, the bullies run off with their clothes …
“But we didn’t care,” says Gabriel. “They could take our shoes and shorts, but they couldn’t take our courage.”
Amen.