Eighth grade students at Wilson Hall Middle School were asked if they preferred the young adult novel A Yellow Watermelon by Ted Dunagan, read by the class in October, or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which students recently finished reading. Many students chose A Yellow Watermelon, citing its simplicity and the fact that it is set in their own backyard. According to an article in The Clarke County Democrat, “Some liked Dunagan’s book because it was easier to read and it was about our own Clarke County.” Dunagan visited Wilson Hall School in October, when students read A Yellow Watermelon and heard from the author a personal account of growing up in Clarke County during the 1940s.
A Yellow Watermelon is available from NewSouth Books, Amazon.com, or your favorite local or online book retailer.