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Finding Langston

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Finding Langston

Paperback(Reprint)

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Overview

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

When eleven-year-old Langston's father moves them from their home in Alabama to Chicago's Bronzeville district, it feels like he's giving up everything he loves.

It's 1946. Langston's mother has just died, and now they're leaving the rest of his family and friends. He misses everything—Grandma's Sunday suppers, the red dirt roads, and the magnolia trees his mother loved.

In the city, they live in a small apartment surrounded by noise and chaos. It doesn't feel like a new start, or a better life. At home he's lonely, his father always busy at work; at school he's bullied for being a country boy.
But Langston's new home has one fantastic thing. Unlike the whites-only library in Alabama, the Chicago Public Library welcomes everyone. There, hiding out after school, Langston discovers another Langston—a poet whom he learns inspired his mother enough to name her only son after him.

Lesa Cline-Ransome, author of the Coretta Scott King Honor picture book Before She Was Harriet, has crafted a lyrical debut novel about one boy's experiences during the Great Migration. Includes an author's note about the historical context and her research.

Don't miss the companion novel, Leaving Lymon, which centers on one of Langston's classmates and explores grief, resilience, and the circumstances that can drive a boy to become a bully— and offer a chance at redemption.

A Junior Library Guild selection!
A CLA Notable Children's Book in Language Arts
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, with 5 Starred Reviews
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2018

Product Details
About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823445820
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	01/07/2020
Series:	The Finding Langston Trilogy
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	68,635
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of more than twenty books for young readers including the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy. Her work has received a plethora of honors, including dozens of starred reviews, NAACP Image Award nominations, a Coretta Scott King honor, the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and a Christopher Award. Her work has been named to ALA Notable Books and Bank Street Best Children’s Book lists and she lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York.

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

There aren't any explosions in this spare story. Nor is there a happy ending. Instead, Langston discovers something more enduring: solace.

The New York Times Book Review - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

★ "An engaging, quick, and relatable read that skillfully incorporates themes of race, class, post-war American life in the North and South, and a bit of Langston Hughes' poetry. This is a story that will stay with readers long after they've finished it."—School Library Journal, Starred Review

★ "The impact on the reader could not be more powerful. A memorable debut novel."—Booklist, Starred Review

★ "A fascinating work of historical fiction . . . Cline-Ransome at her best."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

★ "Finding Langston is about cultural heritage and personal growth and, at its heart, about finding home wherever you land.”—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review

★ "Written in short chapters, this crisply paced book is full of historical details of the Great Migration and the role a historic branch library played in preserving African American literary culture."—The Horn Book, Starred Review

"There aren’t any explosions in this spare story. Nor is there a happy ending. Instead, Langston discovers something more enduring: solace. To quote Langston Hughes: 'My black one / Thou are not beautiful / Yet thou hast / A loveliness / Surpassing beauty.'"—The New York Times

An ILA Teacher's Choice Title
A Coretta Scott King Honor Book
Winner of the 2019 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
A Junior Library Guild selection

From the Publisher

★ 08/01/2018
Gr 2–5—It's 1946 and 11-year-old Langston, named after Langston Hughes, has just moved from Alabama to Chicago with his father following the death of his mother. Langston feels isolated and is bullied at school, and every day he misses Alabama: the dirt roads, his Grandma and her cooking, and the sound of Mama's voice. When Langston accidentally stumbles into the public library to ask for directions, he realizes that, unlike in Alabama, black people are allowed in the library, and portraits of esteemed black literary figures hang on the walls. Langston secretly visits the library daily and is pulled into the poetry of Langston Hughes, discovering his namesake. As the bullying at school intensifies and tragedy strikes his family, Langston finds solace with his neighbor, Miss Fulton, who reads Hughes's poetry out loud to him in the evenings. Cline-Ransome presents a stunning story of a boy during the Great Migration who finds his longing for the South and his father's fondness for the blues reflected in Hughes's poetry. Langston's observations about the world are astute, whether it's his realization of the burdens his father carries or how men on the street look at women. Readers who have struggled with grief, identity, racism, bullying, or loneliness will find their experiences reflected in this beautifully written novel, which has a satisfying, but not-too-tidy ending. VERDICT Cline-Ransome's novel is an engaging, quick, and relatable read that skillfully incorporates themes of race, class, post-war American life in the North and South, and a bit of Langston Hughes' poetry. This is a story that will stay with readers long after they've finished it. A first purchase for all libraries.—Liz Anderson, DC Public Library

School Library Journal

In a light Southern drawl, narrator Dion Graham delivers the achingly mournful story of 11-year-old Langston. This first novel gracefully explores many themes of post-WWII African-American life through the first-person narrative of its young protagonist. Langston’s beloved mother has died, and in an attempt to escape both memories and discrimination, his father joins the Great Migration, moving them from Alabama to Chicago. Graham’s immersive performance, with his finely tuned accents and measured pacing, connects listeners to Langston’s anguish. He misses his mother and grandmother, and feels out of place and bullied at school. But he finds joy at a public library that celebrates the heroes of African-American literature, introducing him to the poetry of his namesake, Langston Hughes. An excellent choice for family listening. S.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphone Award, 2018 Best Audiobook, 2019 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2018 - AudioFile

★ 2018-04-16
A Great Migration novella with a vivid, believable protagonist.When Langston's mother dies in 1946, his father feels that Alabama has nothing left for him and moves himself and Langston to Chicago, where Negroes could make a living wage and avoid the severe discrimination so prevalent in the South. A sensitive boy who loved his mother deeply, Langston has spent so little time with his father that he doesn't really know him. When he becomes the target of schoolyard bullies who call him "country boy," his loneliness sends him to the George Cleveland Hall branch of the Chicago Public Library, where he learns that African-Americans are welcome, which is different from Alabama. A kind librarian helps him find books—including poetry by Langston Hughes, for whom she assumes he has been named. From snooping into letters his dad has saved, he realizes that his mother loved the poetry of Langston Hughes, which inspires him to read everything Hughes has written. Cline-Ransome creates a poignant, bittersweet story of a young black boy who comes to accept his new home while gaining newfound knowledge of the African-American literary tradition. Langston's heartfelt, present-tense narration, which assumes a black default, gathers readers so close they'll be sad to see his story conclude.A fascinating work of historical fiction that showcases a well-developed, likable protagonist and presents Cline-Ransome at her best. (Historical fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews

Finding Langston

Finding Langston

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