Hey, Liberal!: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

In this honest novel set in the racial tinderbox of Chicago in 1969, thirteen-year-old Simon Fleming, the white son of a civil rights activist minister, is sent to a predominately African American high school, feeling charged by his parents to carry out the family's commitment to the community and school integration. Here, he is dropped into a world where gang warfare, drug abuse, and violence are rampant. Simon's quest for survival takes him through a failed student boycott organised by community leaders, as well as through numerous race riots, and brings him into contact with gangbangers, political activists, racist cops, and unlikely new friends. The book exposes an out-of-touch education system and the universality of racial violence amid a nation moving, inch by hard-fought inch, toward a more culturally diverse and inclusive future.

Reviews

"...a triumph..." --Chicago Tribune

"Shawn Shiflett had me laughing, crying, and cringing. (But yeah, we were that uncertain, naive, clueless, and confused.) Wonderful characters, fine storytelling, and a great read, even with the cringes." --David Bradley, author of The Chaneysville Incident, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction

"Hey, Liberal! is an arresting coming-of-age story, presenting an entirely singular perspective on race and politics during the turbulent late 1960s. Utilizing satire, pathos, and humor, Simon's story is as engaging as it is challenging." --Joe Meno, author of Hairstyles of the Damned, Office Girl, and Marvel and a Wonder

"Hey, Liberal! ... is a timely look at race, politics, integration, and violence." --Chicago Review of Books
"An edgy, raw insider account of student life during the late-1960s racial strife and protest movements that is distressingly pertinent to today." --Booklist
"People are always afraid of the truth. Hey, Liberal! is, I believe, a work of courage, and we all need to thank Shawn Shiflett for it." --Charles Johnson, award-winning author of Middle Passage
"Shiflett does a nice job illuminating a complex situation from multiple perspectives, and readers will find the book's brisk final third...difficult to put down." --Kirkus Reviews

Author Bio

Shawn Shiflett is an associate professor of creative writing at Columbia College in Chicago. He is the author of Hidden Place, which was included in Library Journal's 2004 "Summer Highs, Fall Firsts" list of "most successful debuts." He lives in Chicago.