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Title details for Riot by Walter Dean Myers - Available

Riot

by Walter Dean Myers
Various
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
During a long, hot July in 1863, the worst race riots the United States has ever seen erupt in New York City. Earlier that year, desperate for more Union soldiers, President Abraham Lincoln instituted a draft–a draft that would allow the wealthy to escape serving in the army by paying a $300 waiver, more than a year’s income for the recent immigrant Irish. And on July 11, as the first drawing takes place in Lower Manhattan, the city of New York explodes in rage and fire. Stores are looted, buildings set on fire, and black Americans are attacked, beaten, and murdered. The police cannot hold out against the rioters, and finally, battle-hardened soldiers are ordered back from the fields of Gettysburg to put down the insurrection, which they do–brutally.
Fifteen-year-old Claire, the beloved daughter of a black father and Irish mother, finds herself torn between the two warring sides. Faced with the breakdown of the city–the home–she has loved, Claire must discover the strength and resilience to address the new world in which she finds herself, and to begin the hard journey of remaking herself and her identity.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    September 22, 2009

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780307583413
      • File size: 75128 KB
      • Duration: 02:36:30

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Walter Dean Myers bases his story on a pivotal moment in U.S. history, the infamous draft riots of New York City in July 1863. Working-class men rose up against being conscripted to fight the Civil War when the wealthy, by law, could buy themselves out with a $300 Commutation Fee. In the ensuing violence, ongoing tensions came to a head. More than a dozen narrators tell the story of a girl whose Irish mother and black father run a hotel during this time. As violence rages, young Claire questions why the color of someone's skin matters so much. Myers uses a screenplay device to give scope to the story. The narrators' segues between narrative and screenplay are a bit abrupt, but this doesn't mar the listener's overall enjoyment. The tightly written book is followed by a time line that summarizes events of the day, as well as an interview with the author. Myers's story brings to light an important part of American history during the Civil War. M.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 7, 2009
      Written in screenplay format like his Printz Award–winning Monster
      , Myers's historical novel is set in 1863 New York City during the Civil War draft riots, which began as a protest against conscription and resulted in a clash between the city's Irish and African-American populations. The streets are no longer safe for 15-year-old Claire, whose parents (her father is black, her mother Irish) run the Peacock Inn restaurant/tavern. “I don't see why you have to be a black person or a white person,” Claire says, after being cautioned to stay inside. “Why can't you just be a person?” But when the Colored Orphan Asylum is looted and burned, Claire feels an obligation to help. Myers writes poignant dialogue, laying bare the prejudices of the period, while exploring Claire's emotional transition out of childhood. Stage directions (“CLOSE-UP of MAEVE. Her face is a picture of incredible anger as she screams at the POLICE”) pull readers into both the setting and characters, though the transitions between scenes are occasionally jarring. Readers should find this story moving—a direct result of Myers's empathetic portrayal of those on both sides. Ages 12–up.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Funding for additional materials was made possible by a grant from the New Hampshire Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.