Books: Fiction

A Thousand Never Evers

Book — Fiction. By Shana Burg. 2008. 320 pages.
Set in 1963 Mississippi, this historical fiction introduces middle/high school readers to the life at that time through the experiences of a 12-year-old.

Time Periods: 20th Century, 1961
Themes: African American, Civil Rights Movements, Organizing

thousandnevereversIn Kuckachoo, Mississippi, 1963, Addie Ann Pickett worships her brother Elias and follows in his footsteps by attending the black junior high school. But when her careless act leads to her brother’s disappearance and possible murder, Addie Ann, Mama, and Uncle Bump struggle with not knowing if he’s dead or alive. Then a good deed meant to unite Kuckachoo sets off a chain of explosive events. Addie Ann knows Old Man Adams left his land to the white and black people to plant a garden and reap its bounty together, but the mayor denies it. On garden picking day, Addie Ann’s family is sorely tested. Through tragedy, she finds the voice to lead a civil rights march all her own, and maybe change the future for her people. [Publisher’s description.]

About the author

Shana Burg‘s debut novel, A Thousand Never Evers, was inspired by her father’s role as a lawyer in the civil rights movement. To write this novel, she conducted scores of interviews, read old newspapers and magazines, listened to oral histories and the blues, memorized endless gardening facts, and hired her former middle school students to edit her manuscript.

ISBN: 9780440422099 | Yearling Books