Welcome to Litsy!

This is a really special first novel. Three different children are at the centre of this historical fiction set during a horrific set of child murders in the late 1970s / early 80s and the author tells each of their stories in a different way although it was the last narrator in first person who stole the show for me. Moving and rich in the details that create character I enjoyed this despite the subject matter 📸 Atlanta ice cream as I read

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jones explores the joys and pains of fifth grade when there‘s child kidnapping and murder happening in your city. Beautifully written yet heart-wrenching.

A series of child murders in Atlanta forms the inspiration for this story, in which a similar situation is occurring. We see the story through the eyes of children as their lives descend into fear and some of their friends go missing. I don‘t love child narrators, but it works for this particular story, adding an immediacy to the threat.

#2wordtitles
#FallTreasures

#TBR

This is a fictional telling of the factual Atlanta Child Murders from the eyes of 3 children.

As you can imagine, it is a sad story.

Jones did an excellent job relaying the fear of that time and even inserted her own name as a classmate of our narrators.

Leaving Atlanta is well-written, gripping, and fast-paced.

Thank you @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks for surprising me with this book. It's a good one!

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Wow, Misty!! I have never received a #LitsyLove package before!!! What a fun surprise 🥰

Thank you, thank you, thank you 😘 Your crafty magnets are adorable and the blind date with a book is perfect!

Your kindness made my day 💗

In the summer of 1979 there were 20 or so African American children in Atlanta snatched and murdered. This was known as The Atlanta Child Murders. I knew nothing of this tragic event and this novel viewed that time through the eyes of the children touched by their friends‘ deaths and living life always on guard.

After reading An American Marriage and meeting Tayari Jones, I feel like these will be #mykindofbooks ❤️💗

#DiverseSpines

Well, I threw any and all self-control straight out the window and just went hog wild at the Friends of the Library sale in Portland yesterday. And again today. 😬 I‘m delighted with my haul. Now to figure out where to put them all.

Reading this book from the view point of three different fifth graders during a time in Atlanta when children were being abducted and murder was really fascinating way to tell this story. I was born in the 80s but never knew this happen. This is the second book Ive read of Tayari and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Never have books delivered to your job it will only result in lost productivity 😊 This is really good and I‘m getting flash backs to my own childhood.

I‘m completely hooked on this podcast!!! #podcast

#BookHaul

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This podcast is a good pairing with the novel Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones. I recommend both!

I knew nothing about the Atlanta child murders of 1979-1981. Learning about them for the first time through the eyes of three fifth graders living through this horrifying event was perfectly moving. Jones's deceptively simple writing style made this a very fast read for me. It wasn't until I closed the book that the impact of what I had finished really affected me. And I went running for the Google, which was not the best idea.

December 17: #favediversereads I really enjoyed “Leaving Atlanta” about the Atlanta Child Murders. I‘m especially excited to listen to the “Atlanta Monsters” podcast coming out on the same subject. And most of all, I love my #Pusheen my girls got me for #friendsmas2017 ❤️🎄#allthebooksdec #decinbooks17 #weneeddiversebooks

I was reading this novel about African American children going missing / being kidnapped / being killed in Atlanta while there was underreported news of Black girls missing around D.C. It made reading the novel harder and even more important. This book has been sitting on my shelves for years. What made me pick it up just then? Reading fiction builds bridges, enhances empathy, makes us better.

Day 15: Reading diversely is something that is important to me. Here are some of the books from my shelves. Some of the newer ones are TBR. #WeNeedDiverseBooks #SeasonsReadings2016

@RealLifeReading

I'm actually just arriving in Atlanta, not leaving! Anyone else attending the NCTE conference? I'm geeking out over getting to see authors like Sharon Draper, Ta-Nehesi Coates, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Sharon Creech, S. E. Hinton, and others. And hear cool presentations about teaching English. If anyone else is here, I'd love to meet up!