Quintero Weaver uses her own personal experience as a newly arrived Latina immigrant to the U.S. to tell Lu's story. Like Lu, Quintero Weaver arrived in Alabama at a time where racial tensions were high and had to deal with not just the culture shock of moving to a new country, but the best way to balance in the divide between the color lines in the South. When she befriends an African American runner, she pokes at the proverbial hornet's nest.

The book is set during an election year where George Wallace (whose 1963 Inaugural speech boasted "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever") is running for reelection and everyone (kids and adults alike) seem to be invested in the race's outcome.

It was interesting to see a Latina take on what it was like to live in the South during such a tumultuous time, but I can't help but to wonder what that time and place would have been like for a Latina student who is not white-passing.

A middle grade story about racism in the 1970s United States, from an unusual perspective. A little simplistic, but it is for younger readers.

Lu is a passionate, sensitive protagonist whose personality jumps off the page. This story provides a nuanced view of racism in history and sets a great example in showing young readers how to stand up for what is right in spite of doubts and peer pressure.

As I was reading this, I couldn't help but think that middle school Amy would have LOVED this. Lu is an Argentine immigrant who has struggles with crushes, ambitions to win the field day track meet, and also struggles to stand up for what's right during the de-segregation movement in Alabama. The backdrop to all of Lu's typical struggles is the 1970 election between main candidates George Wallace and Brewer. Most of the school is in the "us vs. them" mindset and preparing to transfer to the new private school. Lu has always been open to all races, but she also has the message that immigrants should not draw attention to themselves and get involved. Throughout the book, she learns lessons of standing up for what's right, having gumption, and working hard to reach your goals.

I just loved this. It was such a solid story and had such great messages. It was also just all around entertaining with great characters.

I gulped this down. It brought the time and place, and the underlying nastiness, to life so vividly. Her constant use of country slang was a little strange but I got used to it.

I loved reading this story and thought it covered so much for a middle grade novel. Lu is wonderful as the main character! I loved everything about her and was rooting for her throughout this book. It deals on coming to terms and sticking up for what you feel is right, even if a lot of people might be against you. I loved her friendship with Belinda. Its one of those books that starts off very slowly, but the characters grow on you and eventually you get very engrossed in the novel. The author also writes the landscape and timeline of the story in a very nice manner where you actually feel like you are in the 1970s era. Overall, I really enjoyed reading My Year in the Middle!

I am going to start with saying that you need to read this book. Now.

Okay, so why did I start that way? Because this book had me on the edge of my seat the entire book. Lu was an amazing and inspiring character and I loved watching her grow. As I was reading, I felt like it was a classic that I had somehow missed out on. It just felt like it had been around. This story touched on many important issues, mainly race, but also socio-economic issues and I think they were done well and in a way to really made me pause and think and reflect. I highly recommend this book to all readers. It needs to be read and discussed.

Thank you NetGalley and Candelwick for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Even though the book is set in the 70s, there are still so many things that are the same 40 years later. Discrimination, polarizing politics, being an immigrant family and the struggle to find civility amidst the divisiveness all while still trying to navigate the social mire that is middle school was very relatable. Lu being able to find her courage to defend others and herself was a good example for young readers.

This book is, unfortunately, very timely in our country. I think many students will be able to relate to it and it will ignite some great discussions in grades 5+.

An entertaining story about friendship, following your heart, and courage. Lu sits in the middle row in Miss. Garrett's Social Studies class, white students on one side and black students on the other. It's 1970, racial integration in the school is still new, Wallace is running for governor, and Lu is caught in the middle. She is from Argentina, and sometimes feels like she does not fit in with either group. She is having issues with her old best friend, Phyllis; she does not understand why they are not friend anymore since Phyllis started hanging out with Missy. Lu has been friends with Abigail since fifth grade, but is she really a true friend?
Lu discovers she has a talent for running which brings her closer to Belinda, another runner from school, however, she is from the wrong side of the classroom. She is worried about socializing with her, will she be ostracized from the other students in class? Belinda is accepting of Lu, strong and supportive, a true friend. Will Lu be able to put race aside and accept her for the loyal friend she is?
Set in Alabama this story gives a child's view of race relations during school integration, some of the struggle that families faced during this time and the blatant racism that abounded. A good story for students aged Grade three and up as well as teachers of Civil Rights.

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review:

This review turned into a critical analysis of the book, but I promise it’s worth it. But, heed my SPOILER ALERT. You’ve been warned!

In reading Lila Quintero Weaver’s first foray into children’s fiction, I couldn’t help but think that this would pair well as a close analysis, keeping in mind Gloria Anzaldua’s border theory. To keep it simple, Anzaldúa believed that immigrants, especially Latinx, and more specifically those of Mexican descent, not just live with the trauma of immigrating across the literal border. The theory also refers to the borders that have been socially constructed, such as racial categorization and sexuality just to mention a few. I’ll apply her border theory to this text because I believe most of the book is a study of said theory.

My Year in the Middle follows the last six weeks of Lu Olivera’s sixth grade in 1970 Red Grove, Alabama. Lu is the child of two Argentinian immigrants, which reflects the author’s own personal experience (this is explained at the end of the book with the Author’s Note). Lu considers herself to be a wallflower and does everything in her power to stay that way. But when the P.E. teacher decides that the girls will start running for the last six weeks of class, Lu becomes the surprise underdog. She outruns the entire class, which had been desegregated only the year before. In classrooms, however, an unspoken rule still divides Lu’s peers between black and white. Seeing as she identifies as neither, she occupies a seat in the middle row. In that way, she straddles a literal border.

“A border is a dividing line, a narrow strip along a steep edge. A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary. It is in constant state of transition. The prohibited and forbidden are its inhabitants” (Anzaldúa 3).


The way Lu sits in that racial border that has been constructed without her say in the matter, is much in the way she struggles with her identity as a Latina. She fears her Spanish is not too good and that her translation skills are too basic. However, above all else, she seeks acceptance among the white girls in her class. She fears being Othered, but also fears complete assimilation into whiteness. Anzaldúa said: “The only ‘legitimate’ inhabitants [of the borderlands] are those in power, the whites and those who align themselves with whites. Tension grips the inhabitants of the borderlands like a virus. Ambivalence and unrest reside there and death is no stranger” (4). Though death may not be something that’s talked about in the book, ambivalence is something the narrative strides to be against. Lu feels the tension between her black and white classmates, which at times escalates to physical violence. At some point, even Lu’s the victim of physical and verbal violence from an older white student who takes the bus with her. Lu thwarts this by stomping his feet and correcting that she’s Argentinian, but she has to constantly remind herself of something her mother says: “We’re foreigners. We’re not supposed to get involved.”

Thus, Lu becomes an agent of whiteness by not daring to mix with the black kids, even though she identifies more with them and wishes to befriend them. There is a border that she dares not cross, even though it’s not something her parents have taught her. Her parents have taught her to be implicit in white supremacy even though they don’t believe in it. When Lu finally decides to befriend Belinda, a black girl in her class who is also a fantastic runner, she worries about what her white peers might think of such relationship. She doesn’t hide it in public, and she defends Belinda in the face of a racist shopkeeper, but when she’s faced with the questions of her white peers she shies away from the courage she shows. It’s a slow process as she realizes the systems at play in her classroom, and though she has some help from white peers like her friend Sam, her “best friend” Abigail does the opposite and encourages Lu to assimilate.

In fact, most of the characters who wish that Lu assimilate are women. If it’s not Abigail telling Lu to read women’s fashion tips in magazines, it’s Lu’s mom telling her that sports aren’t for girls when Lu expresses her love of running. This is a sentiment that even Anzaldúa expresses: “Culture is made by those in power—men. Males make the rules and laws; women transmit them” (16). By communicating that assimilation into a white heterosexual capitalist patriarchy or assimilation by ignoring your Otherness and that of your peers, Abigail and Lu’s mom transmit the messages of those in power, which Lu then internalizes.

The book mostly consists of Lu unlearning these internalized feelings and the text does so deftly and with the innocence of a sixth grader who’s only starting to realize the depth of US’s injustices. A good evolution is the image of Lu’s sister, Marina, who’s a college student as well as a volunteer for the Brewer campaign. This campaign is another subplot that’s almost always occurring in the background of Lu’s life. At moments she believes she wouldn’t be affected by the campaign, which is against rampant white supremacist ex-governor George Wallace and desegregationist Albert Brewer. But the book takes you on a sort-of ride-along as she goes to a Wallace rally because Abigail just wants to participate in a cake walk. As Lu feels horrible when the speeches start and the Confederate flags start flying, she bargains with herself and others that she only went to appease Abigail be a part of something with her white peers.

Lu doesn’t tell her black friends or her own family that she attended the rally, knowing it would be met with scorn, which means that she knew it was wrong. When her social studies teacher asks her to write an essay about her experience at the rally for bonus points, she does so, and gets full points while feeling guilty. That guilt is useless, however, seeing as it resembles the white guilt of her peers who want to rebel against the white supremacy in place at their school, but won’t do anything productive with it. It’s when Lu uses her guilt to defend her black friends that it becomes more productive.

At a white student’s birthday party, Lu becomes the target of harassment from her peers for being friends with the black students, especially Belinda. White fear comes bubbling up, and it’s only perforated when Lu finally owns up to her own prejudices and by calling out her peers’ racism in the process.

When Brewer loses the race, the sentiments explored in the book felt all too familiar. As the Brewer supporters start mourning the loss, the white Wallace supporters become even more assertive of their desire for white supremacy. The feelings paralleled the days after the election of Tr*mp. Keep in mind, the book is set less than 50 years ago, and the sentiments of white supremacy and segregationist laws are still present in the US. It is at that point that Lu’s reality comes crashing down on her.

At school, she finally decides to sit with the black students, eschewing the created border of the middle row, the false neutrality she thought she could keep. Lu finally overcomes “the tradition of silence” that Anzaldúa wished to do in regards of the censuring of her identity as a Chicana (59). And though, again, Lu isn’t a Chicana, it’s the best turning point for her as she accepts her Otherness and doesn’t give into white supremacy. In fact, she goes to a white man in power (the principal) to defend one of her black peers, who’s attacked by a white student in class.

Lu is constantly subverting the expectations set for her as the book moves along. She shows growth in the most hopeful and honest way. She’s constantly deconstructing the set default, though not always by herself, like in the scene in which Belinda is at her house and they’re going through the magazines that used to be Abigail’s. Belinda points out that there’s one black model for the overwhelmingly white publication, but she doesn’t worry because at her house they receive beauty magazines for black women. Lu can’t help but wonder that there’s no such thing for girls like her, girls from Latin America, and that she doubted she would ever find a black-haired model with brown skin. This scene is a short one, yet it puts into focus what has been set as the standard for beauty: Eurocentric features. It also helps as a way for Lu to deconstruct such standards, and to question why those are the default.

“It is not enough to stand on the opposite river bank, shouting questions, challenging patriarchal, white conventions. [...] At some point, on our way to a new consciousness, we will have to leave the opposite bank, the split between the two mortal combatants somehow healed so that we are on both shores at once [...] Or perhaps we will decide to disengage from the dominant culture, write it off altogether as a lost cause, and cross the border into a wholly new and separate territory. Or we might go a different route. The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react” (Anzaldúa 78-79).


And indeed, Lu acts. Most of the book is her reacting to injustice, and by the end she’s acting and choosing her own path. She chooses herself, she chooses her real friends, and her family. She also chooses running, with her entire family supporting her and her dad and sister helping her train before the big competition (a Field Day). It becomes a celebration of Lu’s identity as her parents shout encouragement in Spanish as she goes. Those screams allow her to win, seeing as her competition, an older white girl, gets distracted and falls on a pothole. This final scene settles the border paradox within Lu. She’s able to celebrate both her passion for running and her identity as a Latina, all while celebrating the friends she has. There’s no indication she wants to seek reunification with the white peers who turned their backs on her, or that she wants to seek some sort of revenge.

At the end, Lu is happy with forging her own path. She’s finally unafraid to embrace her actions, and leave behind the created borders. There are new borders, but she doesn’t wish to acknowledge them at the moment the book is finished. She’s proud of her growth, and so was I.


Works Cited:

Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. Aunt Lute Books, 1987.

Quintero Weaver, Lila. My Year in the Middle. Candlewick Press, 2018.

An eARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! (this is why I couldn’t directly cite from the source book, since ARCs undergo a lot of changes before publishing)

You can find this book online at all available retailers.

"My Year in the Middle" might be set in the 70s but it covers many relevant topics in today' world. Some are racial relations, immigration, and standing up for what you believe in.

The characters are flawed, as all people are, but lovable. Lu learns and grows throughout the course of the book and matures in her relationships with the people around her.

This is a well written and engaging book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Lila Quintero Weaver’s “My Year In The Middle.” It’s 1970, Alabama schools are integrated, but there’s still a figurative line down the middle with whites on one side and African Americans on the other. Lu Olivera doesn’t neatly fit into either group, and she’s learning to navigate the area in the middle, being true to herself and to people she cares about while recognizing the pressures and close mindedness of the time.

I really enjoyed this story and its thoughtful characters. It’s an interesting, new perspective on a popular topic and time period.
Wonderful inclusion/intersection of different cultures!
Yay for athletic girls!
Yay for politically and socially involved youth!

My Year in the Middle is a new middle grade novel set in a fictional Alabama town during the 1970s governor primary race featuring known racist and segregationist George Wallace. Lu's family immigrated to the area from Argentina when she was young, like the author herself. Her school is now integrated, but in every class the white kids sit to one side, the black kids sit on the other, and Lu and other students--including the cute son of an anti-racist pastor, Sam--sit in the middle to show their solidarity. In this tension-filled environment where many of her former white friends are drifting away, planning to go to an all-white private school, Lu trains to win a race on field-day and her running buddy and new friend is a black girl.

Weaver illustrates the time period well, from music and fashion, to Lu's vibrant voice filled with the cliches of the time, to microaggressions and more blatantly stated racist and sexist attitudes by adults and even fellow students. And yet, the comparison to attitudes of today are not far. Students today are most likely to socialize with those of their own race, and private schools and other options create the "white flight" we see in this novel. At one point, Lu attends a Wallace rally because she was promised a cakewalk and is horrified at the candidate's speech where he calls his opponent by an offensive nickname and talks an awful lot about, well, making Alabama great again.

I found it interesting how Lu classifies herself as white, although a "foreigner," because today the United States has very different attitudes toward Latinx people, many of which are sadly not positive. Lu does face some of this, but it's also demonstrated that many don't see her ethnicity and read her as white--her gym teacher is surprised to discover she speaks Spanish, and she knows adults seeing her talking with a black boy will think she is threatened. Mostly, her conflict about speaking up comes in part from her mother's warning that people don't like when foreigners get involved. Still, the concept of "the middle" applies to her own identity, and this was such a unique perspective to read from.

And yet, as a pivotal moment late in the novel demonstrates, being in the middle isn't enough. Lu discovers she has to stand up and speak out for what's right or justice won't happen. She could avoid humiliation and unpopularity if she aligns herself with the privilege of the white students (something marginalized ethnicities have done in the history of America), but she doesn't, despite how difficult speaking up can be. There is a LOT to think about here, and I kept reflecting on how this would be a fantastic book to teach with all the real-world connections.

The politics in this book come organically and very much through the eyes of a sixth-grader who is also occupied with school, friends, a crush, and sports. Interactions with her peers--especially with black students she connects with over common interests in running and music--are political and stir up tension just by existing. Her older sister is an intern for the candidate running against Wallace, she has to pay attention to the race for her social studies class, and the parents around her talk about it. Her scope of the election relates to how the it can impact her sixth-grade world...that a lot of white people really don't want her black friends to go to school with her.

AND there is another major plot thread throughout the book that I loved! Lu, inspired by Olympic Gold Medalist Madeline Manning, desperately wants to win a long-distance race on field day and convince her parents to allow her to run on a track team being formed for the high school, even though their cultural values have led them to believe she should focus only on school and that it isn't proper for girls to play sports. Plus, the older bully on the bus keeps talking about how his cousin is third in the state and will beat her. Lu pursues this goal with encouragement from her gym teacher and lengthy training sessions, first with her new friend, Belinda, whom she bonded with over their love for running in gym class, and later with her father's and sister's help. I loved that this emphasized all the hard work and small steps that go into accomplishing a larger goal, and the climactic race is worth it.

I do have a couple of minor quibbles with this book, however. An essay, a poem, and a song play major roles, and I would have loved to see these actually included in the text to give more insight into the characters. For instance, I wasn't entirely sure what angle Lu took on her report on the Wallace rally and I'm still not sure, especially since essays today--even at the sixth-grade level--are much more than a recounting of events that I suspect was popular back in the 1970s. I also was a little conflicted of the treatment of Lu's friend Abigail in the story...there's an acknowledgement of the (white) privileges of fashion/glamor, and her tale is certainly one of conformity that sadly includes racism, but I wasn't sure how to untangle these observations in a way that didn't look down on her interest in boys and fashion. Perhaps because Lu also has a big crush? I think she just came across as a character without much depth and that certainly relates to her path to conformity, but it's all tangled up in a "silly" crush and so on. Lu is wise enough to see that Abigail likes him more than he likes her, and I don't blame her for being upset, but it veered pretty close to some anti-teen-girl tropes. Perhaps something else to talk about with readers. The knowledge and worldliness Lu has in comparison is definitely because of her different experience with racism and inability to fully benefit from white privilege, while Abigail can cast that aside and come away from the Wallace rally only caring about the cakewalk experience. Yeah, the more I think about this, the more her character development and lack of shades makes sense, and boys and fashion should be interpreted as an extension of that, rather than evidence for it.

My Year in the Middle is a book that I think all upper elementary/middle (and beyond!) students and teachers should read for its important messages, historical account, and wonderful protagonist!

I really enjoyed and highly recommend this book!

Set in a very polarized state of Alabama in 1970, with the current governor Albert Brewer trying to move the state forward, and former governor George Wallace campaigning for re-election on a platform based on clinging to segregation, sixth-grader Louisa "Lu" Olivera find herself literally in the middle. Lu's family immigrated from Argentina, and do not quite fit with either side, and have much more moderate, progressive beliefs than most white southerners. In the midst of this, Lu is trying to navigate 6th grade society, and unexpectedly finds herself the object of jealousy-inspired bullying after her talent for running is discovered. Will she realize who her true friends are, and find the courage to take a stand.

I thought this story was well-written and well-paced and integrated several issues very well. There was of course the overal issue of racism and segregation with the Brewer-Wallace gubernatorial race as the backdrop, as well as the Olivera family cautiously trying to fit in and not make waves, yet staying true to their beliefs. But also the struggle between what Lu wanted for herself and what her parents expected, and most of all the growing pains of seeing friends change and some friendships end, but having the courage to recognize real friends, and to stand up for them.

Lu is a sixth grader in Alabama. The year is 1970, and her school has recently desegregated. Although classes are mixed, black students sit on one side of the classroom and whites on the other. My Year in the Middle gets its title because of where Lu fits in, both literally and figuratively. Her family is from Argentina, so she sits in the middle of the room.

Lu discovers she is a skilled runner, which leads her to enter into friendship with the black student who is closest to her in skill. As Belinda and Lu begin training together to prepare for the competitive field day at the close of the school year, they become close.

Lu is forced to navigate changing friendships, societal expectations, and different cultures. The election for governor between Brewer and Wallace is a recurring topic, and Lu realized "maybe I cared more about fun stuff than right stuff." As she matures, she finds the confidence to take a stand.

At the close of the novel the author shares she also immigrated from Argentina and grew up in Alabama when the public schools desegregated, so Lu's story was impacted by Lila Quintero Weaver's experiences. It's an easy, accessible read to what can be a complicated topic.

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Lu is a passionate, sensitive protagonist whose personality jumps off the page. This story provides a nuanced view of racism in history and sets a great example in showing young readers how to stand up for what is right in spite of doubts and peer pressure. Highly recommended.

Sixth-grader Lu Olivera and her Latin American family find themselves in the middle of a civil rights struggle in their Red Grove, Alabama neighborhood one hot summer in 1970. The tensions run high in her integrated school: black kids sit on one side of the room, white kids on the other; she sits in the middle row. She's in the the middle child, smack dab between her older, activist sister and younger twin siblings; she's in the middle when it comes to local politics: many of the white families want to re-elect segregationist governor George Wallace, while Lu and her family support incumbent Albert Brewer. Many of her classmates are leaving their school to go to a private, white school. When Lu befriends fellow track runner Belinda Gresham, an African-American girl, and her classmates turn on her, she decides it's time to take a stand.

Inspired by the author's Alabama childhood, My Year in the Middle is a story of civil rights and finding one's voice. Lu puts up with the passive racism in her community, with remarks like, "she's from South America, she doesn't mind going to school with Negroes". But seeing how her African-American friends are treated by her fellow classmates, and by the general public in her town, pushes her buttons. Lu is a character who stands out: she's a character of color stuck in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, but because she's not African-American, she's tolerated: until she digs in her heels and says, "No more". She gives and receives support from her black classmates and from Sam, her classmate and crush, a white preacher's son who is bullied for his civil rights stance.

Lu is at once relatable and a mirror for our society today. We're still divided, and more and more people are forced from the middle to take a stand. Readers may recognize recent political speeches and attitudes in George Wallace's condescending stumping and the racial tension that permeates Lu's classroom. My Year in the Middle is a solid work of historical fiction that provides excellent discussion topics for readers on civil rights, social justice, and where we've gone versus where we are.

MY YEAR IN THE MIDDLE by Lila Quintero Weaver is an engaging tale of fitting in. The historical setting gives readers insight into a particular time in Alabama that is not highly represented in children’s literature. The main character’s strong voice propels the story and keeps the reader turning pages to find out why happens next. Quintero Weaver shows that a child’s desire to fit in and find their place is timeless. Highly recommend.