Dark Days in Morgan County

by Tim Callahan

Timmy’s life has changed since his dad died. He is now living with his grandparents and attending the one-room school back in Kentucky. Dark Days in Morgan County is the third installment in the popular Kentucky Summers series. Novelist Tim Callahan carves out a dramatic, suspenseful tale about a colored family that has moved into the Morgan County farm community in 1960. Overcoming his initial fear, Timmy makes friends with the poor Henry Washington’s clan of six and introduces them to other families in the area. The problem at least one man moved to Morgan County to keep his family from having to live near blacks and is determined to keep the area all white. Despite the difficult theme of the book, Tim Callahan has maintained the country wit and charm of his first two books while tackling racism and hatred. Spend a few evenings reading this important and entertaining story. Kids and adults will love Dark Days in Morgan County.

329 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

Reviews

[Kalena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fiction (Christian references), book 3 of the Kentucky Summer series. It might just be me since I seem to have hit a run of ho-hum books this July. Something did not feel true in this story, but it is good to enjoy a nice book where people do look out for each other for the most part... (I am not yet convinced that a mother would send her only son away and barely speak or write to him following tragedy and then reunite without issue, but who am I to say otherwise?) This novel dealt largely with the Washington family. The conflict? They are the only colored family in the county. Some families embrace them and others want them to leave. And so it goes. My favorite character has shifted to James Ernest and you learn more about him in this book. There is no doubt we will complete this book series, however book one remains to be topped.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first two. I liked the novel, I just didn't love it. I know the author was trying to hit the more serious issue of racism in the south in the 60's from a pre-teen's point of view, but I felt he was trying too hard. The story didn't flow like the other ones and didn't have the light-hearted carefree feel that I had grown to love. The characters' personalities seemed over exaggerated--everyone was very good or very bad, with not a lot in-between and the miraculous conversion of a violent racist bigot to a person who spent his life savings to buy a farm for a strugging Black family was hard to buy.

[Dan Darragh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Callahan's second book about growing up in Eastern Kentucky in the late 1950s. This one takes on racism, and is maybe a little too far-fetched as far as bigots seeing the light. The dialogue gets a little stilted at times as well That said, these books are geared to junior high kids and it's an excellent introduction for kids to the theme "we're all the same color inside" and people should be judged by their actions rather than their skin tone.
The story will keep them turning pages as they learn a lesson. Judging by some of the politically inspired e-mails forwarded to me, a lot of people never really did learn the lesson