Radiant
by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Dutton Children's Books
an impint of Penguin Random House LLC
2025
320 pages
ISBN: 9780593855782
The year is 1963 and Cooper Dale is in fifth grade, and she is not at all happy to be in Mrs. Keating, aka the Queen of Darkness's, class.
Set in history, this novel in verse tells the story of turbulent times: there's a bombing in the Baptist church in Alabama, and four little black girls are killed. Cooper is worried about the violence and afraid the KKK might come to her church or her neighborhood. She wonders why white people hate black people so much. She hears Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and wonders when it will be that people are not judged by the color of their skin. She sometimes wishes she were white, "But sometimes I don't want to be black...but sometimes, sometimes, I just want to be white." In a poem called "If," Cooper says, "If I could--/I would/take my box of crayons/and color the world/the way I want."
Cooper's personal problems include growing apart from her now fourteen-year old sister and a mean boy named Wade in her class who calls her "Mud Face" and bullies her. What's worse is that Cooper's mother works as a maid for the mean boy's mother. Cooper is embarrassed her mother has to clean up after Wade and his family.
One problem is solved when Beatlemania (notice the album cover the girl is holding on the book cover art) takes over the country, both Cooper and her sister Maxine are crazed. They are brought back together in their shared love of the Fab Four.
As the British Invastion sweeps the nation and teens are brought to tears, the entire country comes to a complete stop on November 22, 1963, the day beloved President John F. Kennedy is assassinated. The adults watch the news and talk about politics, and, of course, Cooper hears what's transpiring around the country. Her mother and father debate the activism of Malcom X.
Wade's mother dies, and Cooper and her mother attend the funeral. Wade eventually comes back to school, but he's a changed person. Cooper empathizes with him even though he's been nothing but a terror to her all year. Cooper even changes her mind about Mrs. Keating. She's not the Queen of Darkness after all.
Perfect for reluctant readers, Radiant shines! It will likely be a contender for awards season this year. Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, the winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, may have to clear off more space on her mantle.
Highly recommended grades 4 and up. Radiant would be great for classroom reading. Savvy librarians will purchase a class set and a few other copies for circulation.
