• About this Book
• About the Author
• Related Links
• Read an Excerpt
• Author Q&A
• Reader's Guide
• Teacher's Guide

Written by Susan Carol McCarthy

• Format: Trade Paperback, 288 pages
• Publisher: Bantam
• On Sale: April 1, 2003
• Price: $15.00
• ISBN: 978-0-553-38103-0 (0-553-38103-2)

about this book

Awards & Honors:
*2003 Chautauqua South Fiction Award
*2003 San Diego Magazine's Book Award for Fiction
*2002 Deadly Pleasures' Best U.S. First Novel

ONE BOOK, ONE COMMUNITY READS:
•Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 2009 Freshman Year Read
•Montcalm County, MI 2008 One Book, One County Read
•Michigan State University 2007 Freshmen Year Read
•City of East Lansing, MI 2007 One Book, One Community Read
•St. Augustine-St. Johns County Libraries, FL 2007 One Book, One County Read
•Tampa-Hillsborough County Libraries, FL 2005 One Book, One County Read

ALL-SCHOOL or ALL-CLASS COMMON READS:
•Providence School, Jacksonville, FL All-Class Read 2009
•Oveido High School, Oviedo, FL All-Class Read 2009
•The Pingry School, Martinsville, NJ Annual All-Class Read since 2008
•High Meadow School, Stone Ridge, NY Upper School All-Class Read 2008
•Fairview High School, Fairview, PA Annual All-Class Read since 2008
•Lake Highland Preparatory School, Orlando, FL All-School Read 2008
•Paul J. Hagerty High School, Oviedo, FL Annual All-Class Read since 2008
•South Broward High School, Hollywood, FL All-Class Read 2008
•Jones High School, Orlando, FL All-Class Read 2008
•Liberty School, Madison, AL All-Class Read 2008
•Rock Ledge High School, Rock Ledge, MI All-School Read 2007
•Trinity Preparatory High School, Winter Park, FL Annual All-Class Read since 2007
•Lake Mary High School, Lake Mary, FL Annual All-Class Read since 2006
•Winter Springs High School, Winter Springs, FL Annual All-Class Read since 2006
•Colonial High School, Orlando, FL Annual All-Class Read since 2007
•Terrace Community School, Temple Terrace, FL All-School Read 2006
•Academy at the Lakes, Land O' Lakes, FL All-School Read 2006

OTHER READS/RECOMMENDS:
•The High Schools of the State of South Carolina, Annual Core Curriculum Read since 2007
•The High Schools of Manatee County, FL Annual Core Curriculum Read since 2008
•The High Schools of Escambia County, FL Annual Core Literacy Read since 2008
•FLORIDA TEEN BOOK MAP PROJECT, Florida Reading Association
•TOP 40 YA TITLES, Pennsylvania School Librarians Association
•HOT PICKS! District-wide Summer Reading list for the High Schools of Broward County, FL
•2009 SUMMER READING LISTS: Huntington High School, Huntington, NY; Princeton High School, Cincinnati, OH; East Hartford High School, East Hartford, CT; Appoquinimink High School, Middletown, DE; Middletown High School, Middletown, DE; Edgewater High School, Orlando, FL; Gainesville High School, Gainesville, FL; Northeast High School, Oakland Park, FL; St. Augustine High School, St. Augustine, FL; West Orange High School, Winter Garden, FL
•CLASSROOM READS: Tolland High School, Tolland, CT English Honors Read 2008; Timber Creek High School, Orlando, FL AP Read 2008; Pinellas Park High School, Largo, FL Annual Honors Read since 2007; Lawton Chiles High School, Tallahassee, FL Annual AP Read since 2007; Seabreeze High School, Daytona Beach, FL Annual Honors Read since 2007

Addresses:
*2009 Michigan State Reading Conference
*2007 California Reading Association
*2006 Florida Library Association keynote
*2005 Florida Council of Teachers of English
*2004 Florida Council of Language Arts Supervisors  

Notable Items:
*Core text in State of South Carolina's English II "With Justice for All" curriculum, developed by renowned literacy consultant Dr. Janet Allen.

To listen to Michigan State University’s One Book, One Community program interview with both the author and Evangeline Moore, the 77-year-old daughter of Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore whose murders by the KKK figure prominently in Lay That Trumpet In Our Hands, please visit http://spartanpodcast.com/?p=303.

Inspired by real events, Lay That Trumpet In Our Hands is a novel that tackles race politics in the pre-Civil Rights South unlike any other book in recent memory.

A wise and luminous story about a northern family, a southern town, and the senseless murder that sparks an extraordinary act of courage, the book is told from the point of view of a little girl who is witness to the extraordinary turn of events that begins with the lynching of a black man. From the arrival of noteworthy figures such as Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP, and Mr. Hoover's FBI, to the expressed opinions and actions of the everyday town citizen, Lay That Trumpet In Our Hands will give students a solid sense of the events, people, and national mood of this volatile and chaotic period in American history.

"Reminiscent of To Kill A Mockingbird, McCarthy's debut novel is an engrossing story of one girl's coming of age during the early years of the Civil Rights Movement" —Library Journal

“[E]vocative ... Reesa is an engaging narrator, obsessed with the murder of her friend Marvin, slowly becoming aware of the virulent hatred and bigotry that coexists with their neighbors' generosity, good manners and Baptist spiritual fervor.”—Publishers Weekly