Hazel Rochman (Booklist, May 15, 2005 (Vol. 101, No. 18))
Could a chicken become a warrior and fight oppression?" Small for his age, Gabriel, 10, is scared of the bullies in his all-white trailer park in small-town Georgia in 1976. His tough best friend, Frita, the only black kid in his class, helps him to overcome his fear, and he's able to stand with her when the Klan threatens. As in Going's Printz Honor Book Fat Kid Rules the World (2003), which was written for an older audience, the characters here are funny and brave and drawn with candor and immediacy. At first Frita is a bit too perfect, too strong and wise, and Going's message sometimes overwhelms the story, as when Frita makes Gabe list his fears, which he overcomes one by one. But there is lots of farce and fun, too--until the quietly building tension peaks with the terror of racist confrontation and the courage of people, adults and kids, who stand up together. Category: Books for Middle Readers--Fiction. 2005, Putnam, $15.99. Gr. 4-6.

Barbara L. Talcroft (Children's Literature)
In the summer of 1976, Frita Wilson and Gabriel King are best friends. Frita is looking forward to the fifth grade, but Gabe fears the promotion and some waiting sixth-grade bullies as much as he fears spiders, mean truck drivers, and about 35 other things. Though Frita and Gabe make a list to work on his obsessions, starting with a big black and yellow spider, complications develop when the father of one of the bullies calls Frita “nigger.” Suddenly Frita is afraid, too. What suspense there is evolves from the plan devised by the children and their parents for a Bicentennial rally with the neighboring town, shutting out the obnoxious bullies and their racist fathers. With its carefully constructed characters and a sense of remoteness to the setting, the story is more a parable than a novel. Frita and Gabe are the perfect biracial pair, her brother is an angry young man, the parents are wise and understanding, the bullies are vicious, but we meet few other townspeople. Are there really only two racist families in the area? Although the author uses the rally as a means to illustrate the power of non-violence to boost courage and marginalize bullies, it falls flat as a climax (we don’t even find out if Jimmy Carter really appears). The lesson of solidarity through love is a worthy one, but might have been more effectively presented with believable characters, a realistic setting, and a stronger plot. 2005, Putnam/Penguin, $15.99. Ages 9 to 12.

Joan Kindig, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Gabriel has decided that he will not move up to 5th grade with his best friend, Frita, because doing so will put him on the same wing as Duke Evans, the 6th grade bully. Frita decides to spend her summer making Gabriel brave and has him compile a list of all of the things he is afraid of. Together they tackle the seemingly endless list of fears but Gabriel shows no emerging signs of courage. When Frita is accosted by Duke’s father and is threatened with a Ku Klux Klan visit (she is African-American), fear takes on a whole different look. This quiet novel of real bravery holds a nice message for children: real courage is not about conquering a fear of spiders but in standing up for what you know to be right. Going’s story of a strong, supportive friendship between two children from very different backgrounds that grows in ways they never knew to be possible is refreshing in its backdrop of ordinary life. It is ordinary people, after all, that affect some of the greatest changes of all. 2005, Putnam, $15.99. Ages 9 to 12.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 10))
It's the summer of 1976 in a small town in Georgia. Gabriel King has just finished fourth grade and is scared about fifth. In fact, he's scared of many things: spiders, alligators, falling into the toilet, killer robots, corpses, swinging off the rope swing, his neighbor Mr. Evans and bullies at school. His best friend Frita is out to liberate Gabriel from his fears. She has him make a list of them and work through them one at a time. However, Frita, who is African-American, has fears of her own and the story becomes a study of standing up to fears and to bullies, from the schoolyard to the Ku Klux Klan. Strong voice, lively dialogue, humor and important themes make this a winner. Readers will enjoy following the sometimes-tempestuous friendship of Gabriel and Frita, and they'll be completely absorbed in watching the friends and their community come together to stand up against the evil within. (appendix) 2005, Putnam, 160p, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 up. Starred Review. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June 2005 (Vol. 58, No. 10))
It's summer of 1976, and the prospect of moving from the elementary grades into the school's prestigious West Wing holds no glamour for Gabriel King; in fact, his Moving Up Day from fourth to fifth grade is ruined by bully Duke Evans and his toady, who can't wait for him to become their daily victim. Gabriel's closest friend Frita Wilson, the only African American in his class, is determined that they will spend their summer methodically conquering Gabriel's extensive list of fears, working their way up from the trifling problems of spiders and eighteen-wheelers to the genuine crisis of fifth grade and Duke Evans. Gabriel makes progress by fits and starts until one of his many anxiety nightmares involves Frita, and his sharing of the dream with his friend elicits Frita's own confession of secret fears. Although Frita has always appeared to Gabriel as a pillar of strength, she is deeply troubled by the knowledge that, when she was a baby, her family was persecuted by the Ku Klux Klan, an event that may well recur if her new Georgia community fails to stand up to the bigoted Evans family and rally behind the Wilsons. Within the framework of a classic bully story, Going incorporates the themes of discriminating between frivolous and healthy fears and what freedom means in an America that continues to harbor racial bigotry. After her strong YA debut in Fat Kid Rules the World (BCCB 6/03), Going demonstrates an affinity with a younger readership as well. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, Putnam, 160p, $15.99. Grades 3-5.

Tracy Piombo (VOYA, June 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 2))
After older bullies make him miss his moving up ceremony, Gabriel King decides not to go on to fifth grade. His best friend, Frita Wilson, sets out to liberate him of his fears, encouraging him to make a list of everything that he is afraid of and confront each item separately. Frita has her own list, although Gabe cannot guess what his seemingly fearless friend would put on it. Most teen readers will assume that racism looms large on Rita's list, given that she is African American and that one of the bullies' fathers calls her a particularly offensive racial epithet in public. Less-sophisticated readers will discover it along with Gabe, who is white, in an explosive confrontation at a bicentennial fireworks celebration. By the end of the novel, the focus has shifted from Gabe's liberation to a community-wide movement to heal racial wounds in their small Georgia town in 1976. In her second novel after her Printz Honor Book Fat Kid Rules the World (G. P. Putnam's, 2003/VOYA June 2003), Going again employs a likeable male narrator whose fears keep him on the social fringe. Gabe's southern-inflected narration is a little precious, as is his habit of sounding out words Frita teaches him ("moo-men-tus"). Going also tends to address themes of integrity and courage in a direct way that can be preachy. Readers who persevere past a slow beginning will appreciate the natural development of an interracial friendship strong enough to weather racial tensions. This book is recommended for libraries with an interest in the time period or subject. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2005, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 160p., $15.99. Ages 11 to 14.