Riot - Softcover

Myers, Walter Dean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1606842099 ISBN 13: 9781606842096

Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab ®, 2011

Synopsis

As the Civil War rages, another battle breaks out behind the lines. During a long hot July in 1863, the worst race riots the United States has ever seen erupt in New York City. Earlier that year, desperate for more Union soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln instituted a draft―a draft that would allow the wealthy to escape serving in the army by paying a $300 waiver, more than a year's income for the recent immigrant Irish. And on July 11, as the first drawing takes place in Lower Manhattan, the city of New York explodes in rage and fire. Stores are looted; buildings, including the Colored Foundling Home, are burned down; and black Americans are attacked, beaten, and murdered. The police cannot hold out against the rioters, and finally, battle-hardened soldiers are ordered back from the fields of Gettysburg to put down the insurrection, which they do―brutally. Fifteen-year-old Claire, the beloved daughter of a black father and Irish mother, finds herself torn between the two warring sides. Faced with the breakdown of the city―the home―she has loved, Claire must discover the strength and resilience to address the new world in which she finds herself, and to begin the hard journey of remaking herself and her identity. Addressing such issues as race, bigotry, and class head-on, Walter Dean Myers has written another stirring and exciting novel that will shake up assumptions, and lift the spirit.

About this title

About the Author:

Walter Dean Myers has received accolades including the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, Michael L. Printz Award, National Book Award Finalist, and Newbery Honors. In 2019 he was posthumously awarded the Children's Literature Legacy Award.

From AudioFile:

Walter Dean Myers bases his story on a pivotal moment in U.S. history, the infamous draft riots of New York City in July 1863. Working-class men rose up against being conscripted to fight the Civil War when the wealthy, by law, could buy themselves out with a $300 Commutation Fee. In the ensuing violence, ongoing tensions came to a head. More than a dozen narrators tell the story of a girl whose Irish mother and black father run a hotel during this time. As violence rages, young Claire questions why the color of someone's skin matters so much. Myers uses a screenplay device to give scope to the story. The narrators' segues between narrative and screenplay are a bit abrupt, but this doesn't mar the listener's overall enjoyment. The tightly written book is followed by a time line that summarizes events of the day, as well as an interview with the author. Myers's story brings to light an important part of American history during the Civil War. M.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab ®
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1606842099
• ISBN 13: 9781606842096
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192