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Written by Varian Johnson
Following the divorce of her parents and the death of her Grandma, Candice is spending the summer away from Dad and her Georgia home, in South Carolina, while her Mom gets her Grandma’s house ready to sell. In the attic of her grandma’s house, Candice finds a letter that hints of a tragedy from the past and clues to a mysterious fortune. Candice teams with a neighbor boy to try to solve the mystery of both the past and the present.
This book follows two different time periods with perspectives on racism in the past and today. It also touches subtly, and I must say very appropriately, on death, divorce, sexual orientation, and bullying. At times the story is a bit deep and maybe a little confusing to students as they go back and forth between story lines. As for myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the read!
Review by Jenny Wadsworth, Valley Crest Elementary Media Center
Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 4-9
This book has a lot of different things going on in it, and for the most part all of them work. It is a contemporary puzzle/mystery/treasure hunt combined with historical fiction flashbacks to the 1950s segregation-era Southern United States. It is also a book about friendship and family dynamics. Along the way it is extremely effective at showing what racial discrimination was like in the past as well as the subtle ways it continues today in an age-appropriate way that I believe kids will immediately relate to and understand. I think this book would be particularly great for 5th-6th graders.
Review by Josh Whiting, Library Media Program, Educational Technology Dept.
Rating: ★★★★ (4.5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 5+
The Parker Inheritance
Written by Varian Johnson
Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
331 pages
Release Date: March 27, 2018
A review copy was provided by the publisher.
