In August 1965, twelve-year-old Eden's older cousin from Mississippi comes to visit her in Los Angeles, and while the Watts Riots erupt around them, they continue their investigation of the disappearance of Winter's father ten years ago. - (Baker & Taylor)

During the summer of 1965, when her cousin Winter comes for a visit, Eden is drawn into his investigation of his dad’s disappearance 10 years earlier, and what they discover brings heartache and joy just as the Watts Riots erupt. Simultaneous eBook. - (Baker & Taylor)

The whole world seems to transform during the summer of 1965, when Eden’s cousin from Mississippi comes to visit her in L.A. just as the Watts Riots erupt, in this stirring new novel by Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods.

When Eden’s cousin Winter comes for a visit, it turns out he’s not just there to sightsee. He wants to figure out what happened to his dad, who disappeared ten years earlier from the Watts area of L.A. So the cousins set out to investigate together, and what they discover brings them joy—and heartache. It also opens up a whole new understanding of their world, just as the area they’ve got their sights on explodes in a clash between the police and the Black residents. For six days Watts is like a war zone, and Eden and Winter become heroes in their own part of the drama. Eden hopes to be a composer someday, and the only way she can describe that summer is a song with an unexpected ending, full of changes in tempo and mood--totally unforgettable. - (Penguin Putnam)

Brenda Woods was born in Ohio, grew up in Southern California, and attended California State University, Northridge. Her award-winning books for young readers include The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond (a CCBC choice and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book); the Coretta Scott King Honor winner The Red Rose Box; the ALAN Pick Saint Louis Armstrong Beach; and VOYA Top Shelf Fiction selection Emako Blue. Woods’s numerous awards and honors include the Judy Lopez Memorial Book Award, the FOCAL International Award, and the ILA Children’s Choice Young Adult Fiction Award. She lives in the Los Angeles area. To learn more, visit brendawoods.net. - (Penguin Putnam)

Booklist Reviews

In August 1965, 14-year-old Winter Robeson travels from Mississippi to visit his relatives in Los Angeles. Narrated in verse through the voice of Eden Louise, his 12-year-old cousin, the novel ensures readers are privy to Winter's real reason for visiting—he's on a mission to find out what happened to his father, who disappeared from L.A. 10 years before. The two of them sleuth together through nearby locales, discovering more than they bargained for, some of it good and some disturbing. During the visit, sparks explode between police and area residents, and Watts erupts into six days of violence. Woods has framed this story lyrically, using musical movements and terminology to move the exposition along believably through Eden, who hopes to be a songstress. Readers will find themselves immersed in the time period with naturally included details, such as musicians, authors, and places. This slim yet affecting offering presents an important moment in U.S. history that sadly mirrors current events. Middle-graders will be entertained and educated, as well as inspired to action. Grades 5-8. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

In August 1965, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts is a volcano aching to erupt. Twelve-year-old Eden Louise Coal, who lives just outside of Watts, is looking forward to the visit of her thirteen-year-old cousin, Winter Robeson, from Sunflower, Mississippi. Though Winter has a long list of things he wants to do, Eden realizes he is really there to find his father, who disappeared from Watts ten years earlier. Winter's visit affords some cultural comparisons, as when Winter notes, Y'all got a little Jim Crow here too, huh? after Eden tells him she has only one white neighbor left after white flight claimed all the others. Eden plans to be a songwriter, and the verse novel's text frequently achieves lines Eden herself would relish: She's like a musician / who has forgotten her notes, Eden says of an elderly friend with dementia. The first-person narrative is unusually dense in thematic layers for such a short novel -- neighborhood, family, friends, music, social justice, and dreams -- themes that Eden begins to weave into songs by story's end. This is a nuanced story, told from the heart and rooted in Woods's (Zoe in Wonderland, rev. 7/16) own experiences in 1965 Watts, as related in the author's note. Copyright 2023 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Horn Book Magazine Reviews

In August 1965, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts is "a volcano aching to erupt." Twelve-year-old Eden Louise Coal, who lives just outside of Watts, is looking forward to the visit of her thirteen-year-old cousin, Winter Robeson, from Sunflower, Mississippi. Though Winter has a long list of things he wants to do, Eden realizes he is really there to find his father, who disappeared from Watts ten years earlier. Winter's visit affords some cultural comparisons, as when Winter notes, "Y'all got a little Jim Crow here too, huh?" after Eden tells him she has only one white neighbor left after white flight claimed all the others. Eden plans to be a songwriter, and the verse novel's text frequently achieves lines Eden herself would relish: "She's like a musician / who has forgotten her notes," Eden says of an elderly friend with dementia. The first-person narrative is unusually dense in thematic layers for such a short novel -- neighborhood, family, friends, music, social justice, and dreams -- themes that Eden begins to weave into songs by story's end. This is a nuanced story, told from the heart and rooted in Woods's (Zoe in Wonderland, rev. 7/16) own experiences in 1965 Watts, as related in the author's note. Dean Schneider January/February 2022 p.125 Copyright 2022 Horn Book Magazine Reviews.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Woods (The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA) explores the Watts riots of August 1965 through the experience of two Black cousins in a rhythmic historical novel in verse. In Los Angeles, 12-year-old narrator Eden Louise Coal aspires to become a songwriter. With her 13-year-old cousin Winter Robeson visiting, Eden anticipates two weeks of fun, but his arrival makes her long for the music of Mississippi, "the country roads and folks" she grew up with until the family's move to California two years prior. Winter, who has only experienced life under racial segregation, relishes "being able to sit where you please" on the bus and enjoys time with his hosts while planning to search the Watts neighborhood for his "disappeared daddy," who vanished a decade prior after promising to send for his family. But after Eden's mother receives a phone call that the residents of Watts are fed up with police brutality and harassment, everything goes up in smoke. Interwoven with plentiful music references ("Winter and I became a duo; our ballad, a duet") and utilizing historically accurate language, Woods's harmonious play-by-play narrative of growing up during the Watts Riots spotlights some long-lasting effects of racial inequality and discrimination on children. Ages 10–up. (Jan.)