ALA Booklist

As Caroline spends the summer of 1963 at her grandmother's house along Mobile Bay in Alabama, she can't wait for a jubilee. During this natural phenomenon that takes place before dawn, flounder, crabs, and shrimp wash ashore in abundance. In anticipation, Caroline asks the service-station owners (who also serve up RC Cola and boiled peanuts), Brother Nathan from church, and teacher Miss Mettie if they've ever seen a jubilee. Their answers fill in details about this special event. Finally, shouts of "Jubilee!" wake Caroline, who rushes to meet neighbors along the beach. Together, by moonlight and lanterns, they pile fish and crustaceans into washtubs, ice chests, and bushel baskets and enjoy each other's company in the process. Caroline also captures the experience with her Kodak Instamatic camera. Some of her black-and-white photos appear alongside the lush daytime and luminous evening paintings. For readers less familiar with the tradition, a glossary defines regional terms, and endpapers sport a map of the area. A lovely, intergenerational pick to celebrate summer.

Horn Book (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

Visiting her grandmother in Fairhope, Alabama, in 1963, Caroline hopes to see a jubilee: sea creatures seeking more oxygen wash ashore in the early morning, ripe for easy catching. Caroline talks to some locals about their jubilee recollections, snapping their pictures with her new Instamatic. This stiff nostalgic account is matched by sentimental illustrations and a few black-and-white photographs. Glos.

School Library Journal (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

Gr 1-3 Caroline visits her grandmother in Fairhope, Alabama, during the summer of 1963, hoping to witness her first jubilee. With her Kodak Instamatic Camera in hand, she visits local residents who talk about this marine phenomenon. Anticipation builds as the girl hears about the night that sea life swims to the shoreline of Mobile Bay. She wakes in the night to the sound of a dinner bell clanging and makes her way to the shore where her grandmother's friends and neighbors wade barefoot in the water, excitedly gathering fat flounders, sluggish shrimp, and crabs with blue claws. Buckner's full-color artwork captures the awe and wonder of the jubilee night, illuminated by stars and lantern light, and the rainy yellow dawn as the sea creatures revive and swim to deeper water. Caroline's black-and-white photographs and the many nostalgic details of life in Fairhope make this time and place very real. Maps on the endpapers show of the Alabama coastline, and a glossary helps with unfamiliar terms. This beautifully written story will enhance lessons on Alabama and its coastal marine life. Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN