Dreamland Burning

17-year-old Rowan anticipates a boring summer until she finds a skeleton on her family’s property. She and friend James set out to find the identity of the body and solve the murder and along the way she comes to terms with her own bi-racial identity and learns that Black people die today for the same reasons as did the skeleton in 1921. This timely, fast-paced, and engaging novel addresses historical and contemporary race issues in the US, identity, racial and social injustice, friendship, and morality, and is told from Rowan’s perspective and that of the victim, young Will Tillman. Suitable for literature circles, writer’s workshop, or independent novel study for grades 10-12.