Through powerful use of metaphor, mood, setting, and character development, Wiles crafts this documentary novel for impact; readers cannot walk away from this unchanged. The book's construction, sections of black and white photographs depicting US events during 1964, establish the tone and visually settle readers in a certain era. Several pages with a solid black background demand attention—a visual jolt that echoes the sobering dark facts Wiles relates.

The hatred that spewed from factions is documented and is unsettling but not sensationalized, and Wiles deftly contrasts a heavy unrest with empathy for and from her characters of all ages—her coming-of-age characters, her college-age volunteers whose courage spelled hope, and her noblest adults who have to maneuver the morass both as strong protectors and decision-makers. This is a substantial read, but there is no stand-still in this book; choices and consequences evolve constantly, creating history before our eyes. The writing is exquisite; the story is powerful, and highly relevant. Most appropriate for middle grade+ readers. In the second novel of her Sixties trilogy, Wiles takes readers to a small Mississippi town during 1964's Freedom Summer. As young Sunny tries to adjust to her new stepmother and two new step-siblings, her town reacts to students and OagitatorsO who have arrived on buses to register black citizens to vote.