This past fall, Walter Award Honoree (WATCHED) and WNDB Nonfiction Mentor @mbudhos published her first middle grade novel THE LONG RIDE, taking on race, integration, friendship, and what it feels to not belong anywhere.
It’s 1971. A time of bell-bottoms and cool boots. And a time of big change.
As mixed-race girls, Jamila, Josie, and Francesca have always felt like outsiders in their mostly white neighborhood in Queens, New York City. At least they have each other. Now it’s seventh grade, and they’re part of an important experiment: kids will go on a long bus ride to integrate a new school in a black neighborhood. Maybe there the three girls can finally fit in. Until Francesca’s parents put her in private school. And Jamila and Josie discover that they’re not even in the same classes.
How do they find their place in a school divided between black and white? And what about the boys wanting to be friends–and maybe more? Can kids come together when grown-ups stay apart?
In this tender story of friendship and family love, award-winning author Marina Budhos captures what it’s like to tip from twelve to thirteen, and try to carry the dreams of adults.
“Readers will find a powerful window into the past and, unfortunately, a way-too-accurate mirror of the present.”–Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Historical Fiction, 2019
(Source: marinabudhos.com)
