Crow in Mock Newbery 2026

Apr 02, 2012 Richie Partington rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Richie’s Picks: CROW by Barbara Wright, Random House, January 2012, 304p., ISBN: 978-0-375-86928-0

“She grew up on a plantation by the ocean and knew an awful lot for someone who couldn’t read or write. She taught me things that Daddy, with all his degrees, didn’t know: that the full moon pulls the tides higher; that star formations appear in different parts of the sky depending on the season; that conch shells hold the sound of the ocean inside them; that the tiny beads of silver that twinkle at ...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Heather rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical, boy-books, middle-grade

Wright takes readers to the American South, just before Jim Crow laws permeated the society--a time when African Americans were actually part of the political fabric. The story takes place in 1898, and focuses on a little known incident in Wilmington, North Carolina. Eleven-year old Moses, who is just one generation from slavery, finds himself between his father--a progressive, college-educated journalist--and his beloved grandmother, aka Boo Nanny, who lived a good portion of her life as a slav ...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Doret rated it really liked it

Set in 1898 North Carolina, only a generation after the end of slavery and before the Grandfather clause was used. 11 yr old Moses dad is an elected official and a proud Republican, supporting the party of the president that ended slavery. Moses looks up to his dad who works at the only Black newspaper. Moses is also very close this grandmother, Boo Nanny who never learned to read or write but she still as a lot to teach Moses. When Boo Nanny and the dad butt heads Moses as learned to stay out o ...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Sps rated it liked it

Shelves: elem, historical-fiction

Enjoyable, though the characters didn't fully come alive to me. Moses, the tween narrator, seems a bit too good (i.e. librarian--pleasing) to be true. While the period details are both fascinating and well-handled here, they felt like the point of the book. A setting in search of a story, and I don't see kids reading for setting much.

My other quibble is that emotionally critical plot developments are raised and then dropped abruptly. E.g. the young girl rescued from the riot--does Moses never ...more

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Mar 02, 2012 Dolores rated it really liked it

This book introduced me to some of the most fascinating characters ever. I loved, loved, LOVED Boo Nanny. I loved that Moses wasn't presented as the most perfect child ever. I enjoyed the lazy pace of the book, and how we saw tensions build as the book progressed. I was unaware of this incident, and frankly, it kind of blew my mind. I found it totally shocking that total and complete lawlessness was allowed to have its way. I really wanted to know a little more about what led up to the editorial ...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Carol Royce Owen rated it really liked it

This book started out slow for me, but then picked up midway. It is written about an incident in history that I knew nothing about, which always gets me a little irked at my high school education that would teach us a lot about the Civil War then jump directly to WW1, with little in between.

Crow is about a Negro 11 year old boy named Moses, son of a college educated father who is a journalist for Wilmington's only Negro newspaper and a very light skinned mother maid to a wealthy white family. T ...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Shazzer rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, 2012-middle-grade

As posted on Outside of a Dog:

Sometimes (more often than not, it seems), history can be a little dicey. The course of human events is rarely neat and perfectly packaged. We’re messy people, and our history reflects that. Historical fiction thrives on our messiness and our mistakes. We love to read about people who rise above their situations and survive the tides of history. One such story is that of young Moses, in Barbara Wright’s Crow. His journey through a rather unfortunate chapter in Ameri As posted on Outside of a Dog:

Sometimes (more often than not, it seems), history can be a little dicey. The course of human events is rarely neat and perfectly packaged. We’re messy people, and our history reflects that. Historical fiction thrives on our messiness and our mistakes. We love to read about people who rise above their situations and survive the tides of history. One such story is that of young Moses, in Barbara Wright’s Crow. His journey through a rather unfortunate chapter in American history makes for a thrilling tale.

One generation removed from slavery, Moses lives a good life in Wilmington, North Carolina. His Howard University educated father is an Alderman, publisher of the only daily black newspaper in the South and a respected member of the African American community. His mother has a steady job and his grandmother, Boo Nanny, is a fount of wisdom and stories. But the innocence of Moses’ childhood bubble is about to break, with racial tensions soaring in town and a rising dread of what might happen if things get out of hand. An editorial in the paper sparks a fire, and suddenly the streets are filed with mobs of Red Shirts, white men unhappy with the way things have changed and ready to take action with violence to change them back. Moses finds himself in the middle of a firestorm, and must find hidden depths of courage he never knew he had.

It’s a sad thing to admit, but until I read this book, I wasn’t really aware of the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. The name was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t have told you any details if I tried. That’s why I love books like Crow so much. They open my eyes. Moses’ story begins very episodically, with stories of school and strained friendships and new friendships, and a particularly memorable scene involving a stolen bike. But as you read on, Wright pulls you farther and farther into Moses’ world until you’re completely immersed in the history and the violence and terror Moses faces leaves your heart beating in your throat. This is not an easy book to read. It presents a very ugly part of our past, and does so unflinchingly. It’s for mature middle grade readers, that’s for sure. But for those made of stern enough stuff to dive right in, it’s a sterling story, filled with wonderful characters and an ending that might have you reaching for the tissues, but feeling proud at the same time.
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Oct 03, 2012 Liz rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-for-blog

The only successful coup d'état in American history occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. In that year a white mob took control of the city by force, whisking away its democratically elected integrated government.

Crow tells the story of Wilmington in 1898 through Moses Thomas, a 12-year-old boy from a black middle-class family. In the first half of the book Moses tells us about his day-to-day life. We learn about Moses mother, who loves music and works as a maid. We learn about Moses g The only successful coup d'état in American history occurred in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1898. In that year a white mob took control of the city by force, whisking away its democratically elected integrated government.

Crow tells the story of Wilmington in 1898 through Moses Thomas, a 12-year-old boy from a black middle-class family. In the first half of the book Moses tells us about his day-to-day life. We learn about Moses mother, who loves music and works as a maid. We learn about Moses grandmother, Boo Nanny, who was a slave until she was 30. And we learn about Moses father, a college educated writer at the Wilmington Daily Record, the only black daily newspaper in the South. Moses father is also an alderman in the city government. Moses tells us about his friend Lewis, and what happens when he borrows Lewis’s bicycle. We see him try to keep a job picking okra, only to lose it because he tells the truth. We see him becoming friends with a white boy named Tommy, and watch as they explore tunnels under the city. The narrative takes over from the vignettes by the time Moses and his father take a train to Fayetteville. When they arrive in Fayetteville, they find themselves in the middle of a white supremacist rally. By the end of the narrative, the government of Wilmington has been forcibly removed by white supremacists.

Democracy is of fundamental importance to Moses father. He views the right to vote as a sacred requirement and he and Moses worked together to encourage blacks to vote. Moses’ father expounds on the value of democracy even as he and other members of the existing government in Wilmington are put on a train by the white mob and exiled from Wilmington.

We have just witnessed a presidential inauguration in this country. An inauguration is, in a way, a symbol of our democracy. It's a peaceful transfer of power which comes about as a result of an election. This is basic to our country. I had no idea power had ever changed hands as a result of violence in the United States. Crow is a powerful cautionary tale.
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Jun 19, 2012 Karen Arendt rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, historical-fiction

Very good story. The tension really picks up halfway through the book when the mobs start forming. Sad part of American history how African Americans were treated. A story that needs to be heard so the past is not forgotten. Also a good novel for teaching tolerance.

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May 23, 2012 Benji Martin rated it really liked it

Really good book. It makes me furious that these people never saw justice that even now, few have geard of the Wilmington massacre. I really wish someone would posthumously try some of those people. I know it wouldn't do any good, but it would give the story some kind of closure. ...more

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