FICTION

The Reckoning

by Wade Hudson (text) & narrated by Guy Lockard
Listening Library. Jan. 2024. 517p. $18. ISBN 9780593795569.
COPY ISBN
Gr 3-7–Ebulliently versatile Lockard performs the transformative emotional journey necessary in Hudson’s all-too-real contemporary fiction. At 12, Lamar already knows he wants to be a filmmaker like his idol Spike Lee. His gramps would make an ideal documentary subject: “It took me a while . . . to get my bearings back after your grandmother made her transition,” he tells Lamar, but now he’s ready to share his—and their Louisiana small town’s—civil rights history. Just as Lamar’s “getting to really know him,” Gramps is shot during a traffic incident by a white man with links to the KKK who claims self-defense, and who’s supported by the collusion of racist police. Lamar plays a key role in exposing systemic injustice and exposing the murderer.
VERDICT Despite the potential roadblocks of anger, frustration, fear, Lockard ensures the rallying demand of “do the right thing” is clearly, inspiringly, definitively heard.
Reviewed by Terry Hong , Jan 01, 2024

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