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When Winter Robeson Came cover art

When Winter Robeson Came

Written by: Brenda Woods
Narrated by: Keylor Leigh
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Publisher's Summary

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 10 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.

©2022 Brenda Woods (P)2022 Listening Library

What the critics say

“Author Brenda Woods offers this heartfelt piece of historical fiction as she recalls witnessing the Watts Rebellion in 1965. Eden is an aspiring songwriter, and the book cleverly uses music terminology to convey Eden’s and Winter’s shifting emotions during the six days of unrest and to mark the pacing of the plot. The free verse makes some of the more complex themes accessible, and this could easily spark a thoughtful discussion on how a history of Jim Crow laws, police brutality, and housing inequality plays into current social unrest.”—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review

“A highly relatable and at times poetic piece of writing and American history with a fresh depiction of lower- to upper-middle-class Black life in midcentury Los Angeles.”—New York Times Book Review

“A heartfelt exploration of the 1965 Watts Rebellion as seen through the eyes of a remarkable girl.”—Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming

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