Dreamland Burning
The young adult novel Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham tells the stories of two teenagers living in Oklahoma nearly 100 years apart. Will Tillman is growing up in a racially divided Tulsa, Oklahoma. Throughout the novel, Latham shows readers that not much has changed between then and current day Tulsa, where Rowan Chase discovers a skeleton in her back house. Rowan’s summer is turned upside down when construction workers uncover the skeleton. Rowan and her best friend, James, decide to find out who the skeleton is and how they died. They are able to connect the skeleton back to the race riot in Tulsa 100 years before, when Will Tillman was working in his father’s Victrola shop. Will plays a part in the death of an African American teenager named Clarence, who is killed by white men after defending himself against Will’s drunken fists. After Clarence’s death, Will begins to understand the effect his actions have on the world. Will’s father secretly sells Victrolas to the African American community of Tulsa. This is how Will meets Joseph, a young man who wants to buy his mother a Victrola on credit. Will’s father closes the deal with him and Will soon acquaints himself with Joseph and befriends Joseph’s sister, Ruby, who reminds Will of his own little sister who passed away. As Ruby and Will become friends, Will realizes there is no real difference between who they are as people. However, racial tension is building everywhere else in Tulsa and it comes to a head in the form of a race riot.
While readers discover Will’s story, they also find out about the life of Rowan Chase, whose mother is African American and whose father is white. Rowan thinks that racial tensions are not as damaging as they were during the 1920s, when Will was alive. Rowan begins working at a healthcare clinic and meets Arvin, a kind, homeless man who visits often. After Rowan is rear-ended in her car, Arvin approaches the incident to make sure she is alright. However, there is an angry white man who will not stop yelling at Rowan. He calls Arvin a racial slur and pushes him away, into the road. Arvin is hit by a car and killed in the street. The remainder of the story is spent following Rowan’s recovery from the accident and her grief and confusion surrounding Arvin’s death. The actions of the white man prove that racial tensions remain high and dangerous in Rowan’s city. The man is then acquitted of murder. Jennifer Latham seamlessly blends the two stories together. The connections between Will and Rowan’s lives slowly come into focus. Rowan finds out who was killed and buried in her backyard. She also discovers that racial tensions continue to endanger the lives of African Americans in her city.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the class discussion for Dreamland Burning. I was looking forward to talking about this important book. Here are some of the questions I would have asked in that discussion. Feel free to comment if you have read the novel!
1. Are there any similarities between Rowan’s family and Will’s family? How might Will’s mother be more like Rowan’s mother if she was born in the present day?
2. What role does food play in the story? Think about Mrs. Goodhope’s peach pie and the food Will delivers to his housekeeper’s family in hiding.
3. Were you expecting the ending of the novel? Were you able to guess who the skeleton was?
I have already recommended this novel to a few people. Latham weaves together two fascinating plotlines. While young adults will appreciate the narrative form of this story, all readers will be moved by the story of a race riot that America tried to erase.
Reference
Latham, J. (2017). Dreamland Burning. New York, NY: Little, Brown.