Leaving Lymon

Lesa Cline-Ransome

Book - 2020

Raised by his grandparents, first in Mississippi then in Wisconsin, ten-year-old Lymon moves to Chicago in 1945 to live with the mother he never knew, while yearning for his father.

Saved in:

Children's Room Show me where

jFICTION/Cline-Ransome, Lesa
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
Children's Room jFICTION/Cline-Ransome, Lesa Checked In
Subjects
Published
New York : Holiday House [2020]
Language
English
Main Author
Lesa Cline-Ransome (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
199 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9780823444427
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

In this companion to her Coretta Scott King Honor Book Finding Langston (2018), Cline-Ransome digs deep into the story of Lymon, the boy who bullied Langston. They're alike in many ways: both leave the South during the Great Migration; their parental situations are perilous; and loneliness is an overwhelming feature of their lives. Yet where Langston finds solace in books, Lymon mostly finds trouble. After his beloved grandpops dies, he moves to Milwaukee with his grandmother, who's too sick to care for him. His mother, in Chicago, takes him in, but his resentful stepfather makes life miserable. Each day that passes warps the boy a little more, until he has a run-in with the law. Lymon's strong first-person narrative does an excellent job of capturing both the boy's confusion and disappointment, though his transformation into a bully is muted, as is the scene where he rips Langston's book. This is at its best when depicting the strong relationships that keep Lymon afloat, and the hopeful ending will uplift readers.--Ilene Cooper Copyright 2019 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 3--7--This companion to Finding Langston is set between the years of 1938 and 1947 when African Americans lived under Jim Crow laws. The novel opens with Lymon and his paternal grandparents, Ma and Grandpops, visiting Parchman Farm, where Lymon's father is incarcerated. In the evenings, Grandpops teaches Lymon how to play Delta blues on the guitar. When Grandpops dies, Ma and Lymon move from Mississippi to Milwaukee to be near family, and Lymon takes Grandpops' guitar with him. Lymon's frustration with his father's absence and school discipline leads to truancy, which Ma overlooks as she grows ill. When Ma has to be hospitalized, Lymon's mother, who lives in Chicago, takes him in. Unfortunately, Momma's husband Robert beats Lymon, breaks his guitar, and takes money that Aunt Vera sent to Momma. Lymon runs away with the money, and ultimately lands himself in the Arthur J. Andy Home, a juvenile detention center. Like its predecessor, this novel is set during the Great Migration, and readers learn that Lymon is one of Langston's bullies. Cline-Ransome focuses on the unfair treatment of black men and boys, a problem that endures today. Throughout the story, location and music are tied to Lymon's character arc: when Lymon is able to play in the band at the juvenile detention center, he begins to envision his new life with Ma and Daddy. Major and minor characters are equally well crafted. Through characters of all ages, Cline-Ransome explores how a person's treatment of others is developed through nature and by the circumstances they have been dealt. VERDICT Balancing rich history and timeless themes of race, instability, and the importance of music and the arts, this title is another must-have from Cline-Ransome.--Liz Anderson, DC Public Library

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

Lymon Caldwell, a secondary character in Finding Langston (rev. 9/18), tells his story in this companion novel that explores the question, Are bullies born or are they made? Lymon lives with his grandparents in 1940s Mississippi; his mother abandoned him as a baby, and his father is in prison. Lymons grandfather nurtures him and sparks in him a love of music, but after Grandpops passes away, Lymon and Ma (his grandmother) move to Milwaukee. Mas diabetes worsens, and Lymon is happy to stay home from school to care for her since he struggles academically. When Ma is hospitalized, Lymon reunites with his mother in Chicago, but he is abused by her new husband. Lymons life is a study of a boy who perpetually falls through the cracks, and who internalizes the painful lesson that the only person he can count on is himself. Cline-Ransome demonstrates a mastery of character development that deftly captures historical and sociological nuances of an African American family. Bullies are clearly made by abuse, neglect, and institutions that fail them. An authors note provides historical context about Mississippis Parchman Farm prison and the Great Migration. Julie Hakim Azzam March/April 2020 p.78(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Lymon, who has music in his bones, has too many strikes against him to make growing into young adulthood easy. Readers met Lymon as an angry bully in Cline-Ransome's Finding Langston (2018). At the outset of this companion, the African American boy lives in 1940s Mississippi with his loving, guitar-playing grandpops and ever disgruntled grandmother, called Ma. Lymon's flighty teen mother, Daisy, abandoned him long ago when she moved to Chicago and started another family; Grady, Lymon's father, is incarcerated at Parchman Farm. Like Langston's, Lymon's distinctive rural Southern voice narrates both painful and poignant moments in a matter-of-fact way that leaves readers wondering how he can bear so much without breaking. Though likable and worthy of compassion, Lymon seems to attract negativity. When Grandpops dies and Ma sickens from diabetes, the relatives can no longer afford Lymon's upkeep. They send him to Chicago to live with Daisy, her two sons, and her husband, Robert, who beats Lymon regularly. When Lymon steals money from Robert, the police send him to a boys' homewhere, finally, he's allowed to come into his own. Cline-Ransome's masterful storytelling will keep readers enthralled while teaching them about historical racial biases in the penal system, the plight of children during the Great Migration, the discrimination faced by Northern blacks, and more.A captivating novel about a boy whose story will leave readers wanting more. (Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.