Saving Savannah

by Tonya Bolden

Overview

From acclaimed author Tonya Bolden comes the story of a teen girl becoming a woman on her own terms against the backdrop of widespread social change in the early 1900s.

Savannah Riddle is lucky. As a daughter of an upper class African American family in Washington D.C., she attends one of the most rigorous public schools in the nation—black or white—and has her pick among the young men in her set. But lately the structure of her society—the fancy parties, the Sunday teas, the pretentious men, and shallow young women—has started to suffocate her.

Then Savannah meets Lloyd, a young West Indian man from the working class who opens Savannah's eyes to how the other half lives. Inspired to fight for change, Savannah starts attending suffragist lectures and socialist meetings, finding herself drawn more and more to Lloyd's world.

Set against the backdrop of the press for women's rights, the Red Summer, and anarchist bombings, Saving Savannah is the story of a girl and the risks she must take to be the change in a world on the brink of dramatic transformation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681198040
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	01/14/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	206,613
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Tonya Bolden is a critically acclaimed award-winning author/co-author/editor of more than two dozen books for young people. They include Inventing Victoria, Crossing Ebenezer Creek, which received five starred reviews; Finding Family, which received two starred reviews and was a Kirkus Reviews and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, a Coretta Scott King honor book and James Madison Book Award winner; MLK: Journey of a King, winner of a National Council of Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children; Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty, an ALSC Notable Children's Book, CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, and winner of the NCSS Carter G. Woodson Middle Level Book Award. Tonya also received the Children's Book Guild of Washington, DC's Nonfiction Award. A Princeton University magna cum laude baccalaureate with a master's degree from Columbia University, Tonya lives in New York City.
www.tonyaboldenbooks.com

Editorial Reviews

11/04/2019

Following Inventing Victoria, Bolden returns to the world of upper-class African-American society in historical Washington, D.C., where she explores the tumultuous changes of 1919—the fight for women’s suffrage, the New Negro movement, the growth of anarchism—through the eyes of 17-year-old Savannah Riddle, who has grown increasingly embarrassed, even repulsed, by her privileged life. Missing her brother, who has defied their parents’ expectations by becoming a photographer in Harlem, and irritated by her best friend’s frivolity, Samantha determines to “widen her world.” She befriends the cleaning woman’s daughter, Nella, and Nella’s cousin Lloyd, a socialist-leaning activist, and begins to volunteer at the all-black National Training School for Women and Girls. Her world does widen, and her perspective radicalizes, as she experiences how other people live, even as anarchist actions escalate, bringing danger to her community. While Savannah’s characterization lacks some nuance, the story is richly complex in its historical detail, and it builds to a revelatory climax. Enhanced by a comprehensive author’s note, this is a valuable portrayal of affluent African-American society and of post-WWI life. Ages 13–up. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

The story is richly complex in its historical detail…a valuable portrayal of affluent African-American society and of post-WWI life.” —Publishers Weekly

“Poetic, breathtaking, descriptive and fast-paced. . . . An excellent choice for YA historical fiction shelves.” —School Library Journal, starred review, on INVENTING VICTORIA

“Seamlessly weaves aspects of black history into the detailed narrative. . . . Victoria emerges as a fully realized character, a product of all her experiences. The depiction of Washington, D.C.'s African-American elite is rich and complex . . . A compelling and significant novel.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on INVENTING VICTORIA

“Bolden captures the period with meticulous detail. . . . [An] engrossing coming-of-age story.” —The Horn Book Magazine on INVENTING VICTORIA

“The rich descriptions of people and life in early America will fascinate readers as the book introduces them to this widely overlooked population in history.” —Booklist on INVENTING VICTORIA

“Readers will fall in love with Bolden's gentle lyricism as she unflinchingly unfolds a difficult story.” —Shelf Awareness, starred review, on CROSSING EBENEZER CREEK

“Bolden . . . bravely concludes this concise, moving story with a historically accurate and horrifying ending.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review, on CROSSING EBENEZER CREEK

“The well-executed premise, a compelling love story, and unique historical details will appeal to fans of Ruta Sepetys's Salt to the Sea . . . This moving and engrossing portrayal of a little-known historical tragedy belongs on all YA shelves.” —SLJ, starred review, on CROSSING EBENEZER CREEK

“A poetic, raw, and extraordinary imagining of a little-known, shameful chapter in American history.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on CROSSING EBENEZER CREEK

“With keen insight, Bolden mines a lesser-known historical event and brings the human cost vividly to life . . . Bolden's trenchant, powerful novel is a strong testament to the many lost lives that certainly did—and still do—matter.” —Booklist, starred review, on CROSSING EBENEZER CREEK

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