Radiant

Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux. Radiant
January 7, 2025 by Dutton Books for Young Reader
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this novel in verse, Cooper Dale is in fifth grade in 1963, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She lives with her father, who is a baker, her mother, who cleans houses, and her older sibling Fred and Maxine. She has the "meanest" teacher, Mrs. Keating, and often experiences horrible treatment by classmate Wade Carter, who is very racist towards her, calling her names like "Mud Face" and "Pooper". The only black student in class (N.B. The book uses this term, and discusses that this is becoming more popular as "colored" falls out of favor. Today, we capitalize Black.), Cooper struggles a bit to find good friends; while the girls in her class are generally nice to her, they don't live near her, and the girls with whom she is friends in church also don't have many opportunities to come to her house. Cooper tries very hard to do well on her school work, and has taken her parents' message that she should shine in everything she does to heart. She is glad that the man who comes in to teach penmanship once a month thinks her handwriting is good, but is dismayed when Mrs. Keating tells her her letters are too large; to get back at her, she writes her weekly spelling test in tiny letters, only to get an F even though her spelling is fine. Cooper starts to notice that something is going on with Wade; he doesn't always walk home for lunch, and seems sadder than usual. When her mother gets a job cleaning for the Carters because the mother has cancer, Cooper is appalled. For one thing, she has told her classmates that her mother is a home decorator, and for another, she doesn't want her mother to have to deal with Carter. Cooper starts to think about what it would be like if her own mother were sick, and starts to have some sympathy for her nemesis. Cooper is very aware of being the only Black student in her class, and doesn't understand why Mrs. Keating thinks people should be "color blind". Her mother's mother is white, and Cooper sometimes wishes that she were white. When another Black student, Robert, joins the class, this is a new experience. Much of Cooper's time is spent in typical tween pursuits of the time; waiting for The Wizard of Oz to play once a year on television (a BIG deal!), listening to the exciting new musical group, The Beatles, and hanging out with family and at church. She does start to understand Mrs. Keating and Wade more as the school year comes to a close. 

Strengths: 1963 is an excellent year to have as the background of a novel, and it's a little surprising that we don't see the death of John F. Kennedy portrayed more, since it is the touchstone of several generations. I loved the thread of The Wizard of Oz woven through the story, and didn't know that it was shown around Christmas time; I was familiar with the late winter showings. Working in Pittsburgh radio station WAMO was a nice touch, and I adored how Cooper saved up her money to buy Meet the Beatles. There's some character growth as Cooper starts to understand others around her, like Wade and Mrs. Keating, but it's also good to see Wade become less racist, at least in his actions. There are plenty of good historical details of daily life that make it clear that Cooper and Ms. Nelson are contemporaries. 
Weaknesses: This was more a novel about how Cooper felt instead of what she did, so is rather more introspective and lyrical than many middle grade historical novels. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want a look at this point in history from the perspective of a Black tween. The early sixties haven't been represented all that well in middle grade fiction; there's Moses' We Were the Fire: Birmingham 1963, Curtis' The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, Robinson's memoir Child of the Dream, Rosengren's The Cold War on Maplewood Street, or Hood's She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, which is the only other book that really addresses the fascination with the Beatles. There are some books that are set slightly later in the 1960s, like Jackson's The Lucky Ones (1967), but there are still not quite as many as I would like to see.