The Last Last-Day-of-Summer

Creative Commons CC0

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles

It’s the last day of Sheed and Otto’s summer vacation and they wish it would last forever. But when a time-warping villain crashes into supernatural Logan County, where the two cousins live and are something of local legends, and actually manages to freeze time with a retro-looking camera… Otto and Sheed feel like this might be a problem bigger even than they can handle. Full to the brim with word play, heart, and adventure, this pitch-perfect middle grade read shines on multiple fronts. For one, not only are the protagonists black, so are their arch-rivals (the Epic Ellison sisters), and many other residents of Logan County, providing a welcome antidote to children’s literature’s bleak stats on books featuring black characters. Indeed, novel improves the visibility of different body types along various axes simultaneously: the Co-protagonist Otto, who is brave, determined, super smart, and a great cousin, is also described numerous times as chubby. Never preachy or pointedly “politically correct,” The Last Last-Day-of-Summer gracefully presents a magical adventure tale for middle grade readers that puts black boys front and center, allowing space for these characters to breathe as dimensional figures who can have fun, be emotional, live in a small town instead of the “inner city," and be indisputable heroes.