The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA
This middle-grade novel introduces us to a town where everyone seems to get along, while racial inequality bubbles beneath the surface. The setting is Birdsong, near Charleston, South Carolina, and the year is 1946. The protagonist, young Gabriel Haberlin, has received a beautiful new Schwinn bike for his birthday. On his first spin through town, an errant driver almost runs him over, but Gabriel is pushed out the way by a good Samaritan, Meriwether Hunter. And thus begins an unusual friendship between a young white boy and an older black man, a veteran of World War II.
Gabriel is still too young to understand the complex emotions involved when Meriwether explains that his unit fought in some of the worst battles of the war, but they are never invited to participate in any parade. As the story unfolds, Gabriel witnesses firsthand the ugliness of racial inequality at his father’s auto shop. By the end of the novel, Gabriel has learned the painful truth that life is not always fair.
This is a great story with complex characters, a setting that comes to life, and a dilemma that Americans still face today. Recommended.
