The Year of Jubilee
Ebook
The Year of Jubilee is a lyrical coming-of-age novel set against the backdrop of the turbulent South in the early 1960s.
The Mockingbird family has always lived peacefully in Jubilee, Kentucky, despite the divisions that mark their small town. Until the tense summer of 1963, when their youngest child, Isaac, falls gravely ill. Middle sister Grace, nearly fourteen, is determined to do whatever it takes to save her little brother. With her father and mother away at the hospital, Grace is left under the loving but inexperienced eye of her aunt June, with little to do but wait and worry. Inspired by a young teacher’s mission for change, she begins to flirt with danger—and with a gifted boy named Golden, who just might be the key to saving Isaac’s life. Then the unthinkable happens, and the world as she knows it shifts in ways she never could have imagined. Grace must decide what she believes amid the swirling, conflicting voices even of those she loves the most.
From gifted songwriter Cindy Morgan comes this lyrical, tender tale of a girl standing at the threshold of adulthood, learning the depths of the human heart and the bonds of family that bend, break, and bind together over and over again.
- Southern historical fiction that explores the civil rights movement
- Beautifully written with themes of growing up, community, and faith
- Includes discussion questions for book clubs
DEBUT: Thirteen-year-old Grace Mockingbird hasn’t thought much about the differences between Black and white people in her rural Kentucky coal-mining town—at least not until her teacher mentions integration coming to the South next year. Although Grace’s father has Indigenous heritage, her mother is mostly concerned with keeping up appearances and belonging to the women’s social group whose members’ husbands often wear white KKK hoods on the weekend. Over the course of one unbearably hot and tumultuous summer, Grace’s impoverished life is turned upside down by personal family tragedy and the beginning stages of the civil rights movement. Each member of the Mockingbird family must decide what the right path is and if miracles are possible. VERDICT: In her adult fiction debut (a semi-autobiographical novel), singer/songwriter Morgan (How Could I Ask for More: Stories of Blessings, Battles, and Beauty) highlights the hardscrabble life of the 1960s working poor. Fans of classic coming-of-age stories such as To Kill a Mockingbird or A Tree Grows in Brooklyn will enjoy this unflinching tale of an American family longing for a “Year of Jubilee,” where debts are forgiven and captives are set free.
This coming-of-age story is written in first person from Grace’s point-of-view. This thoroughly atmospheric novel brings to life the goings-on of a 1960s Southern town. There is a beautiful sense of vulnerability in the characters that makes them feel realistic and relatable. The Mockingbird family, Miss Adams, and the other inhabitants of Jubilee are equally mesmerizing. When I started reading, I was immediately drawn into Grace’s world. There is so much richness and depth explored within the pages. The setting is perhaps my favorite part because of the local color, the Southern culture, and the descriptions of the Civil Rights Movement.
I could not stop reading this beautifully written novel. The author’s note was a wonderful addition to the story and added so much depth.
- Title: The Year of Jubilee
- Author: Cindy Morgan
- Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781496476005, 9781496475985, 1496475984, 149647600X
- Resource ID: LLS:9781496476005
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-11-04T23:32:37Z