Summer of No Rain

by Laura Hunter, Sierra Tabor (Editor)

As a timid biracial girl growing up in Sweetwater, Alabama during the 1960s, Margaret Ann Odom’s childhood was all but pleasant. Constantly targeted by her peers due to her different texture of hair, and struggling to live up to her M’dear’s expectations, Margaret's life becomes worse when Claire Whitehurst appears at her home insisting she is due for a sudden medical examination and a series of injections. Thinking her life couldn’t get any worse, her entire childhood spirals out of control as she faces depression and struggles to learn the value of her life amongst those intent on treating her differently.

“In this YA novel, a multiracial girl finds herself the subject of strange medical experiments in rural Alabama. It’s the summer of 1968. Heat and drought have dried out the fields around Hyssop, where 12-year-old Margaret Ann Odom lives with her Black Cherokee mother, M’dear. . . . The medicine, whatever it is, causes Margaret Ann to feel depressed, but the truth behind the treatment is even darker than she can imagine. The majority of the book is narrated by Margaret Ann, and Hunter gives her a poet’s eye for the world around her . . . . the novel is based on a true story, one that many readers likely have never heard of, and Hunter tells it in a way that highlights the horrors.”
– Kirkus Reviews

268 pages, Paperback

Published January 24, 2022

Reviews

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel is beautifully written, but it exposes the hatefulness of racism in the South even into the late 1960s. The awful experiences of the colored girls who went to the Free Women’s Clinic were described realistically and made me angry. I was rooting for Margaret Ann through it all. Summer of No Rain is an excellent story about horrible things; however, it is a story that must be shared. This historical fiction novel is appropriate for middle and high school students as well as adults.

[BookTrib.com]

A eugenics program masquerades as a health clinic in SUMMER OF NO RAIN, an eye-opening historical novel by Laura Hunter.

Read the full review on Booktrib.com

[Reader Views · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Summer of No Rain” by Laura Hunter is a historical fiction story based on true events that occurred in the 1960s in rural Alabama.

Margaret Ann Odom is a bi-racial girl of twelve years old. Like most girls her age, she enjoys tree houses, animals, and playing with her best friend. But her happy, ordinary world is about to change. When Miss Claire, a beautiful, educated white woman appears at her door to convince Margaret Ann’s mother to enroll her in a free health program for underprivileged girls, she finds herself in a world of pain and suffering as doctors treat her for the “blue jennies,” giving her repeated shots and vaccinations several times a week. Little does Margaret Ann know that she is the victim of illegal medical experimentation and a sinister plot to rid her of a normal life.

I couldn’t help but feel angry at the injustice that was done to this young girl. Although she is fictional, there were real girls out there that experienced something like in the 1960s. It’s genuinely appalling to know that medical experiments like those done in Nazi Germany also occurred here in the United States. This book made this almost forgotten part of history seem very pertinent to our current times and gave me a deeper understanding of the reticence some people feel towards taking vaccines, particularly those in the African American community.

This book is told mostly from the perspective of young Margaret Ann, so this book would probably be suitable to share in middle school or high school classrooms. There were some biblical passages and passing religious references, but I wouldn’t consider this a Christian book. I also enjoyed the subtle imagery the author shared regarding hyssop, fertility, and new life. These themes were woven throughout the narrative in clever ways that bring the tragedy of what was done to Margaret Ann up to an even more haunting level.

There are likewise some charming characters featured throughout the book. Brother Blues, Bailey Renfroe, M’Dear, and Walter all come to mind. I don’t want to say much about Miss Claire, but I also enjoyed her role in the story. The author really made me feel like I was there with Margaret Ann, experiencing all the highs and lows of life with her. One thing that bothered me a bit was I didn’t feel like there was much closure with the Nell incident, but otherwise, this book was touching on many levels.

I feel people of all ages will enjoy this book. It is educational and helpful at explaining what happened and why so that everyone can understand. The editing was exceptional and easy to read. Despite the appalling subject, the book manages to preserve some of that childlike innocence until the end. There are also questions at the end of the book to help spur discussions in a classroom setting. I recommend “Summer of No Rain” by Laura Hunter to teachers, students, and lovers of history.

[Carolyn Breckinridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

The year is 2018 and Margaret Ann Odom is recalling her life in the summer of 1968 when she was twelve. It was a summer of heat and dust and the withering of life. Margaret Ann is a fictional child of mixed-race and she lives in the tiny village of Hyssop, Alabama, close to the town of Sweetwater. She lives with her Black mother, Ophelia, whom she calls MaDear. Her father is a white local from a prominent family who soon rejects both Ophelia and Margaret Ann due to societal pressures and personal ambitions.
This is also the story of a young, freshly graduated social worker named Miss Claire Whitehurst, who in her desire to find a meaningful job in her career of helping people, as well as her personal need for a paycheck, accepts a position at a newly-established Free Woman’s Clinic. The Clinic is purportedly established to offer health services to poor Black children and women. Naively, Claire accepts a job that will ultimately lead to the sterilization of Margaret Ann as well as the death of another young girl in the Hyssop community.
Summer of No Rain is a fictionalized account of historical events in which experimental drugs and medical practices were inflicted upon unknowing, trusting persons of color. The author has built her plot off an actual Supreme Court case which was brought by the SCLC.
Although this story inflicts horror, sadness, and pain as surely as the injections given to Margaret Ann, this multi-award-winning author has woven a powerful plot pulsing with characters so real the reader can almost taste the summer’s dust. It is the important story of what can happen when those in societal and financial power have no checks on their influence and actions, and is as relevant today as it has been throughout all history.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written, and engaging. I feel ignorant that I did not know things like this occurred to people recently. Reading about the trials Margaret went through and how Claire tried to fight her perceived wrongs. I could not put the book down. Wanting to get to the end to know what happened next.

[Lisa Carby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocking story. Based on true events.