All her life, Esther Hopkins has been told she has a mighty fine voice.
Still, she can't believe her luck when just days after moving to town she's invited to sing a solo at the 1923 Independence Day picnic.
But the group sponsoring the picnic is not the benevolent fraternal order they claim to be. Worse, they've recruited her father, the town's freshly ordained Baptist minister, to become their chaplain.
When they target the immigrant family of her new best friend, Esther must risk her father's anger, the KKK's revenge, and her family's safety to follow her conscience, salvage her friendship, and find the strength to speak truth to power even if it costs all she holds dear.
“Esther,” Daddy called. “It’s time to go.”
I didn’t want to go.
I wanted to stay and even though it was the first day of summer, I wanted to go to Meadow Springs School and sit next to Dorothy Hoover just like I, Esther Hopkins, had done ever since my first day of school. Why, the alphabet itself had pre-ordained that we would be best friends for life!
But no one ever listened to what I wanted. My voice didn’t seem to matter.
When I finally climbed into the backseat, I pushed against my father’s battered old Army footlocker trying to make more room. But it didn’t budge. Just like my father. This move was all his doing. A promise he had made nearly five years ago in a trench in the Western Front. My father, the farmer, promised God he’d serve him and become a minister if he lived through the Great War in Europe. It had taken him several years and a lot of studying, but my father was making good on his promise.
Daddy started the car. Mama leaned out the open window to hug Dorothy’s mother. As Daddy pulled the car through the gate and onto the road, Mama and I turned to wave through the back window until we couldn’t see our friends any longer. Only Daddy looked forward, straight ahead, driving to Grayson, Indiana, and a new life. A new job waited for him there where he’d be ordained as the new Baptist minister.
What did the road ahead hold for me?
Rebecca Langston-George is the author of nineteen books for young readers including the globally popular For the Right to Learn: Malala Yousafzai’s Story. Though she’s long been known for nonfiction, One Fine Voice is her first middle grade historical fiction.
A retired teacher credentialed in both single subject language arts for upper grades and multiple subjects for younger grades, Rebecca is a popular school presenter for all ages, encouraging students to investigate and tap into their personal interests when writing.
She serves on the board of The California Reading Association and is the Co-Regional Advisor for SCBWI Central-Coastal California, helping other writers achieve their dreams.
She splits her time between California’s scenic coast and its agricultural heartland, writing (and mostly rewriting) at one mile per hour on a treadmill desk. Read more at Rebecca Langston-George | Children's Book Author.
Website • Author Page at Historium Press • Facebook • Twitter / X • Bluesky • Instagram • Amazon Author Page • BookBub • Goodreads
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Thank you so much for hosting Rebecca Langston-George on your lovely blog today, with an intriguing excerpt from her compelling story, One Fine Voice.
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Cathie xx
The Coffee Pot Book Club