A Yellow Watermelon by Junebug Books author Ted Dunagan will be reviewed in the forthcoming December 1 edition of Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus praises Dunagan’s skillful storytelling and calls the book “a memorable, generous-hearted tale.â€
Rooted in the best Southern literary tradition, A Yellow Watermelon takes place in 1940s; it is the story of 12-year-old Ted Dillon who shows enormous courage in befriending a black child and in stepping forward to uncover the duplicity and racist attitudes of the town’s leading citizen. From the review:
“It’s a fine, well-told tale of friendship between two smart, likable boys—one white, one black. In a scene akin to Deborah Wiles’s Freedom Summer (2001), anticipating the Civil Rights movement, Ted tells Poudlum, ‘And someday you gonna be able to walk in that drug store, sit down and have yourself some ice cream. You know what else, one day we’ll be able to go to school together, too.’â€
A Yellow Watermelon will be avaliable in November from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer.