'Glory Be' A Tale Of The South For Young Adults

Eleven-year-old Gloriana Hamphill, known as Glory, feels like she's about to have the worst summer of her life. It's 1964 in Hanging Moss, Miss., a year that will teach her about bigotry, loyalty and bravery. Former librarian Augusta Scattergood talks with host Scott Simon about her first young adult fiction novel, Glory Be.

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.

Eleven-year-old Gloriana Hamphill, known as Glory, feels like she's about to have the worst summer of her life. It's 1964 in Hanging Moss, Mississippi, and she hears rumors that her neighborhood pool is closing. Her Fourth of July birthday is just days away. But the closing of the pool will be a window into history for Glory Hamphill, who will learn about bigotry, loyalty and bravery in that summer.

"Glory Be" is a book for young readers by Augusta Scattergood. It's her first novel. And Augusta Scattergood joins us from member station WUSF in Tampa, Florida.

Thanks so much for being with us.

AUGUSTA SCATTERGOOD: Thanks for inviting me. I'm so happy to be here.

SIMON: (unintelligible) You're a former librarian, I guess.

SCATTERGOOD: Oh yes, and once the librarian always a librarian.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SCATTERGOOD: But I don't work as a library right now. I'm a writer.

SIMON: What brought you to want to write a story set among young people in this period of history, the 1960s?

SCATTERGOOD: Well, it all started because I actually lived there in Mississippi during the '60s. My home is Mississippi. And when I stopped working as a librarian, I decided I wanted to write. And I knew a lot about kids' books because I was a school librarian. And I started thinking about stories that would interest young readers, but would also be pertinent to what they were studying or what they needed to learn.

But really, the story sort of started off as a little bit of a memoir. Because a lot of it is things that actually happened between my sister and me, and it evolved into a young peoples' novel - historical fiction.

SIMON: Help us understand the play of the story a bit, because Glory learns that the school is going to be closed. And that's just absolutely devastating news and then she learned the reason why.

SCATTERGOOD: Originally, the town fathers say they're closing the pool because there are things that need fixing. And what she learns is that the things that need fixing aren't just concrete and broken drains.

SIMON: We need to be plain. Their pool is about to be closed because people don't want to integrate it.

SCATTERGOOD: Absolutely. And not only the swimming pool, but she also knows of a threat she hears through her librarian that the library might close, instead of allowing, quote, "just anybody to use the books." So there are a lot of things happening in that town in Hanging Moss, Mississippi in 1964.

SIMON: Let me get you to read a section of your novel. It's from the first chapter. And Glory and her best pal are running along on a hot summer day to meet her older sister, Jesslyn.

SCATTERGOOD: (Reading) Let's go, I said. It's so hot I can't hardly spit. Jesslyn is already at the pool. She might up and decide she's bored and leave before I put my big toe in the water. I scratched at a mosquito bite and tugged at the bathing suit under my shorts. The backs of my legs were burning up from sitting on the concrete bench outside the library. I couldn't wait to feel the water's coolness, to dive in and flutter kick all the way to the shallow end.

(Reading) Frankie yanked his towel. I hope the pool is even open, he mumbled. Wait a minute, I said, it'll be open. I'm going swimming. Why would they close the community pool now when every body needs a place to swim? I heard something. He stared up at a noisy mockingbird perched in the shade tree in front of the library. Anybody watching Frankie would've sworn that mockingbird was the most interesting critter in the universe.

(Reading) About cracks needing fixing, nobody's closing our pool. Where'd you hear that? My Daddy, but it's a secret, Frankie answered and headed off like he hadn't said a thing. Your Daddy, what does he know? I raced after him all the time, thinking why in tarnation would our pool be closing on the hottest day of the summer, just 12 days before the Fourth of July - my 12th birthday? And what was the big secret, anyhow?

SIMON: A lot of the story is about growing up in a time when you're told you're too young to understand things. But at the same time, you know that something is going on around you - something that you will be a part of one way or another.

SCATTERGOOD: At the time it was happening, whether or not we knew we were a part of anything, I think it all sort of evolved. And that's how I hoped to make Glory, you know, that she wouldn't know much at the beginning of the story but she learned a lot. She learned from the civil rights worker's daughter she befriended. She learned a lot from her maid, Emma, and certainly from her father - and even from her big, bossy sister, Jesslyn.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SIMON: Yeah, that's - well, and the principal characters in the book are all white. Did you...

SCATTERGOOD: Well, except for Emma, of course.

SIMON: Emma, Emma. But did you think about making any attempt to put in the story on the other side of town, too?

SCATTERGOOD: I really didn't because I did not see that as my story to tell. I tried very hard to flesh out the African-American characters. Certainly, I had a tremendous love for Emma. And I felt like I really wanted her to not be a stereotype.

SIMON: And did you have an Emma in your life, or more than one Emma?

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

SCATTERGOOD: I had an Emma. I absolutely had an Emma, her name was Alice. And although I had both my parents taking care of me too, I had a brother and a sister who were twins, and Alice and I read Nancy Drew books together as Emma and Glory do.

SIMON: Mm-hmm.

SCATTERGOOD: And she was a wonderful cook. She taught me how to cook. And I tried to make Emma a really great cook. She was also based a little bit on another friend of mine. I was taken care of by a woman who actually was named Emma, so she's probably and combination of people that I knew.

SIMON: Do you know where Alice is now?

SCATTERGOOD: Alice, I was at Alice's funeral, you know, 10-15 years ago. And she's not with us anymore. Unfortunately, a lot of people I would've loved to have read this book didn't live. The librarian that I'm just so fond of who was an activist in our town...

SIMON: Mm-hmm.

SCATTERGOOD: ...she recently died.

SIMON: Was that all the more important a reason to write the book, so that young people will be able to pick up the threads of that story?

SCATTERGOOD: Oh yes. I think that the people who were there when the actual events happened, for them to be able to tell the story and to share it with young readers, I think that's very important.

SIMON: Augusta Scattergood, a former school librarian and now has written her first novel for young adults, "Glory Be." She joined us from Tampa. Ms. Scattergood, thanks so much.

SCATTERGOOD: You're very welcome. I loved talking to you. Thank you.

Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

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Now, It's On To South Carolina

With so little drama last night, the candidates and press turned very quickly to South Carolina, which the AP says "is shaping up to be a dogfight."

And the stakes are high: After winning New Hampshire, Mitt Romney became the first non-incumbent Republican to win the primary season's first two contests, so as Bloomberg puts it, South Carolina, which votes Jan. 21, may be the last chance opponents have to derail Romney.

NPR's Debbie Elliott told our Newscast unit that South Carolina has correctly picked the eventual candidate every time since 1980 and Romney is facing a more conservative electorate, which is being heavily courted by Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.

"All candidates are campaigning in the state today," said Debbie. Romney will appear with Gov. Nikki Haley, who was elected with Tea Party support.

With 10 days to go, Bloomberg says the battle will be fierce. Romney is already facing tough ads about his days running Bain Capital, which Perry has painted as "vulture capitalists."

Here's a preview of the kinds of attacks you'll likely hear:

"Texas Governor Rick Perry, who will be making what may be his last stand in South Carolina, hit that theme at a town hall meeting yesterday in a Fort Mill retirement community.

"Companies such as Bain 'come in and loot people's jobs, loot their pensions, loot their ability to take care of their families,' Perry said. 'They're just vultures sitting out there on the tree limb waiting for the company to get sick. And then they swoop in, they eat the carcass, they leave with that, and they leave the skeleton.'

We'll leave you with some other headlines that look forward to South Carolina:

— Politico says Romney's South Carolina strategy is to "divide and conquer."

— If the polls are to be believed, it may prove a fortuitous move: A CNN/Time poll earlier this month found that Santorum and Gingrich were splitting the vote and leaving Romney with a sizable lead.

— "A rougher tone and a tougher ideological terrain await" Romney, writes the AP.

— ABC News takes a look at Evangelical voters in South Carolina, which they say may be more important to Santorum than they were in his surprising showing in Iowa.

— Will Perry's Southern roots help him in the Palmetto State? The Washington Post says he's counting on it and eating some grits to send the message that "I'm one of you."

— Talking Points Memo talks to the South Carolina GOP chair, who said its primary will be the 2012 "reset button."

"Our voters are fiercely independent and pretty fickle," GOP Chair Chad Connelly told TPM. "They watch what happens in Iowa, they watch what happens in New Hampshire. They may take that under advisement kind of thing, but they're going to make their own decisions."

View the original article here

Romney Concedes 'Uphill Climb' In South Carolina

WASHINGTON January 11, 2012, 07:29 am ET

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Gov. Mitt Romney is conceding he's got "an uphill climb" in South Carolina, where he finished fourth in 2008, despite season-opening victories in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But Romney tells CBS's "This Morning" he's confident about South Carolina, saying "I know we're going to push forward."

Romney voiced regret that his fellow Republicans have made his record as a venture capitalist an issue, but said it isn't gaining any traction. He said, "They tried the same line here in New Hampshire and it fell extremely flat."

Romney said he has a record of starting businesses and creating tens of thousands of jobs. And he said that if elected, he wouldn't hesitate to apply his business experience in an all-out campaign to shrink the size of the federal government.

In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said, ""I don't know if we can win South Carolina,"

With respect to Bain Capital, Romney told ABC he feels that people want someone with business experience in the Oval Office. "It's working for my benefit," he said.

Asked about comments Vice President Joe Biden made suggesting that venture capitalists care more about making money than employees left behind in business reorganizations, he noted that Biden and President Barack Obama oversaw the federal rescue of General Motors and Chrysler and that plants were closed down in the process, as well as automobile dealerships.

Speaking about his own company, Romney said, "Every time we had a reduction in employment it was designed to make the business more successful and to grow it."

Romney's New Hampshire win will make it tough for his GOP opponents in South Carolina and elsewhere.

Romney's back-to-back wins give him big momentum for the next contests. He won in Iowa last week.

The campaign has raised the money to go the distance through one primary state after another.

View the original article here

South Korea Takes A Political Turn To The Left

When the current president of South Korea Lee Myung-bak took office four years ago, he turned a cold shoulder to engagement with North Korea. The conservative wing in South Korea opposed improving relations with Pyongyang. But that has proven to be an unpopular policy, and now Lee finds himself in the difficult position of appealing for closer ties in this unpredictable transition period in North Korea. Lee goes to Beijing Monday to seek Chinese backing for this policy shift.

Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The president of South Korea is in Beijing for talks with Chinese leaders. At the top of their agenda is the political transition in North Korea. Ever since Kim Jong-il died in December, both China and South Korea have advocated open dialogue with the North.

But as NPR's Mike Shuster reports from Seoul, that's a reversal for the South Korean president and it could have an impact on the country's elections later this year.

MIKE SHUSTER, BYLINE: On the surface, it may all sound predictable. The conservative president of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, urging dialogue with North Korea, known formally as the DPRK, in a speech last week.

PRESIDENT LEE MYUNG-BAK: (Through Translator) If the DPRK comes to the table with sincerity, we can together open up a new era on the Korean Peninsula. We have to solve mutual trust issues through dialogue and take the road of mutual benefits and common prosperity.

SHUSTER: But buried in these quite ordinary-sounding words is a sharp shift in South Korean policy. When Lee Myung-bak became president four years ago, he turned away from engagement with North Korea, which had been Seoul's goal for nearly a decade, says Paik Nak-chung, professor emeritus at Seoul National University.

PROFESSOR PAIK NAK-CHUNG: He discontinued practically all the North-South exchanges. That amounts to a radical reversal of the previous policy. That process had started already with his inauguration in 2008.

SHUSTER: Behind President Lee's cold shoulder to Pyongyang was the belief that, without South Korean support, especially without South Korean aid and investment, the North Korean regime would collapse. The conservatives in South Korea were convinced of that, says Park In-kyu, editor of the liberal website, PRESSian.

PARK IN-KYU: They hate North Korean regime and they hope - they want collapse of North Korean regime.

SHUSTER: But the North Korean regime did not collapse, despite constant food shortages and isolation from most of the world. At the same time, the conservative approach never became popular in South Korea and, says Professor Paik, it has put the conservatives at a disadvantage going into an election year.

NAK-CHUNG: I think it has been definitely counterproductive. These days, I think, President Lee and his advisors are showing some signs of catching on.

SHUSTER: It's not as if North Korea is especially popular in South Korea. It's not. The frost turned to ice in 2010 when North Korea sunk a South Korean warship in March of that year, killing more than 40. Then, in November, unleashed an artillery barrage on an isolated island, leaving several more dead.

President Lee demanded an apology from North Korea and cut off nearly all of South Korea's remaining financial interactions with the North. The apology never came, but says Daniel Pinkston, the chief analyst in Seoul with the International Crisis Group, many in South Korea blame the tension on President Lee's aversion to engagement with North Korea.

DANIEL PINKSTON: South Korean society is very divided and some people blame the provocations of the past and the tension in inter-Korean relations on the conservative hawkish policies of the Myung-bak government. Now, whether you think that's true or not does not matter, but if the electorate feels that way, then it might shift how they vote.

SHUSTER: That's precisely what opinion polls are showing in South Korea, a move toward the left as elections for South Korea's legislative assembly in April approach. Couple that with widespread dissatisfaction with the lead government's record on the economy and there's a real chance, Professor Paik says, for the left to return to power.

NAK-CHUNG: The liberals have a very good chance of taking control of the National Assembly. If they win the Assembly elections, their chances of winning in the presidential election will improve.

SHUSTER: President Lee cannot run for reelection. The South Korean constitution limits presidents to a single five-year term, but because conservative prospects don't look good, it seems obvious why, in the aftermath of Kim Jong-Il's death, Lee is suddenly talking about dialog and urging the Chinese leaders to protect the status quo in North Korea.

Mike Shuster, NPR News, Seoul.

Copyright © 2012 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.

View the original article here

Now, It's On To South Carolina

With so little drama last night, the candidates and press turned very quickly to South Carolina, which the AP says "is shaping up to be a dogfight."

And the stakes are high: After winning New Hampshire, Mitt Romney became the first non-incumbent Republican to win the primary season's first two contests, so as Bloomberg puts it, South Carolina, which votes Jan. 21, may be the last chance opponents have to derail Romney.

NPR's Debbie Elliott told our Newscast unit that South Carolina has correctly picked the eventual candidate every time since 1980 and Romney is facing a more conservative electorate, which is being heavily courted by Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.

"All candidates are campaigning in the state today," said Debbie. Romney will appear with Gov. Nikki Haley, who was elected with Tea Party support.

With 10 days to go, Bloomberg says the battle will be fierce. Romney is already facing tough ads about his days running Bain Capital, which Perry has painted as "vulture capitalists."

Here's a preview of the kinds of attacks you'll likely hear:

"Texas Governor Rick Perry, who will be making what may be his last stand in South Carolina, hit that theme at a town hall meeting yesterday in a Fort Mill retirement community.

"Companies such as Bain 'come in and loot people's jobs, loot their pensions, loot their ability to take care of their families,' Perry said. 'They're just vultures sitting out there on the tree limb waiting for the company to get sick. And then they swoop in, they eat the carcass, they leave with that, and they leave the skeleton.'

We'll leave you with some other headlines that look forward to South Carolina:

— Politico says Romney's South Carolina strategy is to "divide and conquer."

— If the polls are to be believed, it may prove a fortuitous move: A CNN/Time poll earlier this month found that Santorum and Gingrich were splitting the vote and leaving Romney with a sizable lead.

— "A rougher tone and a tougher ideological terrain await" Romney, writes the AP.

— ABC News takes a look at Evangelical voters in South Carolina, which they say may be more important to Santorum than they were in his surprising showing in Iowa.

— Will Perry's Southern roots help him in the Palmetto State? The Washington Post says he's counting on it and eating some grits to send the message that "I'm one of you."

— Talking Points Memo talks to the South Carolina GOP chair, who said its primary will be the 2012 "reset button."

"Our voters are fiercely independent and pretty fickle," GOP Chair Chad Connelly told TPM. "They watch what happens in Iowa, they watch what happens in New Hampshire. They may take that under advisement kind of thing, but they're going to make their own decisions."

View the original article here

Romney On Glide Path As Campaign Heads South

Enlarge Charles Dharapak/AP

Mitt Romney reaches for his wife Ann as his sons, Josh, Ben, Craig, Tagg and Matt (left to right) look on during the Romney for President New Hampshire primary night rally at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

Charles Dharapak/AP Mitt Romney reaches for his wife Ann as his sons, Josh, Ben, Craig, Tagg and Matt (left to right) look on during the Romney for President New Hampshire primary night rally at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., on Tuesday, Jan. 10.

In politics, success breeds success. That's why Mitt Romney is looking strong as attention turns to the next Republican primary in South Carolina.

Any expectations that Romney's fortunes might fade were overturned Tuesday in New Hampshire. The former Massachusetts governor won a solid plurality with some 39 percent of the vote – more than 15 percentage points ahead of his nearest rival, Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Perhaps as importantly, the order of the finish in New Hampshire left no other candidate clearly positioned to stand as Romney's chief competitor in South Carolina on Jan. 21.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who had based his candidacy on a strong performance in New Hampshire, finished third. And the disappointing showings for Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum – they essentially tied for fourth – means that the former House speaker and the former Pennsylvania senator will each continue to struggle to establish himself as the leading conservative alternative to Romney.

"Romney will get a big boost going into South Carolina and the only way to stop him would be for the right to unite behind one of two candidates who did very poorly in New Hampshire," says Charlie Arlinghaus, who directs a free-market think tank in Concord, N.H.

"If Romney wins the first three contests, it's over," he says, and Romney won a closely contested Iowa caucuses — by eight votes over Santorum — before romping in New Hampshire. "Nobody else will have the resources to compete."

Don't Start Counting Chickens

With only two states having voted, it would be premature to say the nomination is assuredly Romney's. The electorate in South Carolina looks different from the more moderate and independent-minded voters of New Hampshire.

"Because New Hampshire is such a political anomaly and unrepresentative of the GOP base, it is not only possible but is likely that conservatives will continue to form a consensus and unite to present a viable challenge to the establishment candidate," says John Stemberger, chairman of the Florida Family Action PAC, a social-conservative group.

How South Carolina votes will indicate Republican preferences throughout the South in general, says Gary Bauer, a prominent social conservative and former presidential candidate.

"Clearly, Romney's victory in New Hampshire was impressive and he's building momentum, but I think South Carolina really is the key state," says Bauer, who endorsed Santorum there on Sunday.

"It is still more than possible that South Carolina ends up being a race between Romney and Santorum," Bauer says. "If Santorum can pull it off, the field narrows a little and they go into Florida and I think anything can happen."

Who's The Alternative?

But the other candidates considered most conservative in the race – Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry – are hardly conceding the "anti-Romney" vote to Santorum. Santorum was unable to build in New Hampshire on his strong showing in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses.

"Nobody expected Santorum to barnstorm New Hampshire, but he really needed to capitalize on his Iowa 'tie-victory' to set himself up as the true 'anybody but Romney' candidate," says Scott Huffmon, a pollster associated with Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

For his part, Gingrich is likely to continue the sort of attacks he launched against Romney in the closing days of the New Hampshire race. After vowing to run a positive campaign, Gingrich is poised to further unleash negative ads and videos.

"South Carolina is known for its rough and tumble politics," says Curtis Loftis, the state treasurer in South Carolina and Romney's campaign director there. "The ads are flying here and none of them are polite."

Establishment Leanings

That's one reason Loftis isn't ready to declare victory for his candidate yet. But he says he's pleased with Romney's position nonetheless.

With reason. Recent polls have suggested that Romney was already opening up a lead in South Carolina even before his big win on Tuesday.

Although there's been a lot of speculation about whether social conservatives will block Romney's path to victory, they haven't been able to unite behind a single alternative.

"Unless the social conservatives want to go out with a whimper, they better pull forces together now in South Carolina," says Bruce Ransom, a political scientist at Clemson University. "It's not clear at this point that will be possible."

Although the state's GOP electorate is sometimes portrayed as "far right wing," it's actually a more complicated mix of fiscal conservatives, retired military and libertarians, says Jim Guth, a political scientist at Furman University in Greenville, S.C.

"It's basically gone for not the more centrist candidate but the more establishment candidate," Guth says. "It looks for a winner as well."

'Slim, But Possible'

Given Romney's many advantages – in terms of fundraising, organizational strength and now momentum – it's difficult to see how anyone else can find a clear path to victory in South Carolina or beyond, says Huffmon, the pollster at Winthrop.

It's possible, he says, that Perry could have a "southern reinvention" and regain the kind of support he enjoyed as the field's front-runner for a brief period last summer. But that may prove unlikely.

"There will still be a number of factions holding out hope that their guy can win, when I don't see how you can stop this thing," says Chip Felkel, a veteran GOP strategist in South Carolina who is not affiliated with any of the current hopefuls.

Huntsman is not expected to be a strong candidate in South Carolina, observers there say. And there may be a ceiling on Paul's support there as well.

"Paul has his avid supporters but will have about the same percentage here he's had elsewhere," says Guth, the Furman professor.

Given the size of Romney's New Hampshire victory, Felkel says, it's going to be harder for other candidates to convince their supporters that they still have a chance – and are worthy of more financial support.

"Is there a possibility that somebody can beat Romney?" Huffmon says. "Slim, but possible."

Election 2012

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Romney's New Hampshire win will make it tough for his GOP opponents in South Carolina and elsewhere.

After wins in New Hampshire and Iowa, stopping Romney's march to the nomination has become harder.

Paul told a crowd of supporters that he was nibbling at the heels of front-runner Mitt Romney.

View the original article here