The Freedom Summer Murders 12+

About this book

The harrowing true story of three civil rights workers slain by the KKK—now in paperback!

In June of 1964, three idealistic young men (one black and two white) were lynched by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi. They were trying to register African Americans to vote as part of the Freedom Summer effort to bring democracy to the South. Their disappearance and murder caused a national uproar and was one of the most significant incidents of the Civil Rights Movement, and contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Freedom Summer Murders will be the first book for young people to take a comprehensive look at the brutal murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, through to the conviction in 2005 of mastermind Edgar Ray Killen.

Reviews

Awards and Praise for The Freedom Summer Murders

Kirkus Prize finalist in the Young Readers' Literature
NAACP Image Award nominee
Cybils Award finalist

* "A must-read in any young adult study of the civil rights era." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

* "Essential." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"An eye-opening read..." --Booklist

"A timely, essential account, illustrated with contemporary photos and capped with extensive endnotes and source notes." --School Library Journal

"[An] absorbing book.... It will grab you fom its opening paragraphs an won't let go until justice is serve." --The Horn Book Magazine

"This is quite simply the best book on this subject for young people." -- David Goodman, President, The Andrew Goodman Foundation