Finding Langston

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

When eleven-year-old Langston's father moves them from their home in Alabama to Chicago's Bronzeville district, it feels like he's giving up everything he loves.

It's 1946. Langston's mother has just died, and now they're leaving the rest of his family and friends. He misses everything-- Grandma's Sunday suppers, the red dirt roads, and the magnolia trees his mother loved.

In the city, they live in a small apartment surrounded by noise and chaos. It doesn't feel like a new start, or a better life. At home he's lonely, his father always busy at work; at school he's bullied for being a country boy.

But Langston's new home has one fantastic thing. Unlike the whites-only library in Alabama, the Chicago Public Library welcomes everyone. There, hiding out after school, Langston discovers another Langston--a poet whom he learns inspired his mother enough to name her only son after him.

Lesa Cline-Ransome, author of the Coretta Scott King Honor picture book Before She Was Harriet, has crafted a lyrical debut novel about one boy's experiences during the Great Migration. Includes an author's note about the historical context and her research.

Don't miss the companion novel, Leaving Lymon, which centers on one of Langston's classmates and explores grief, resilience, and the circumstances that can drive a boy to become a bully-- and offer a chance at redemption.

A Junior Library Guild selection!
A CLA Notable Children's Book in Language Arts
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, with 5 Starred Reviews
A School Library Journal Best Book of 2018

Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 08/14/2018
Pages: 112
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780823439607
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.5
Point Value: 3
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 195865 / Finding Langston


Award: Coretta Scott King Award - Honor Book


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 04/15/2018 pg. 59
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2018 pg. 91
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 07/01/2018
School Library Journal 08/01/2018 pg. 66
Shelf Awareness 08/17/2018
Horn Book Magazine 09/01/2018 pg. 78
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2019 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style

About the Author
Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of Before She Was Harriet, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, a nominee for an NAACP image award, and winner of the Christopher Award. Her other books include Benny Goodman & Teddy Wilson: Taking the Stage as the First Black-and-White Jazz Band in History and Just a Lucky So and So: The Story of Louis Armstrong.