4 comments about Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.

1. Alexandra Fuller tells a story about growing up in farms in Zimbabwe as it became independent and then in Malawi as her parents worked to make a living among expats and natives. She went to a white school which emptied out of the white students at independence and then filled with the black children of the neighborhood. They had a servant who was a gifted tracker. She was invited into the home of a very poor black family. As a child she was able to see and do things the adults couldn't. Alexandra has a wonderful recall of the details of childhood.
   Lisette Lecat has a perfectly clear and delightful voice with a British accent that makes hearing the details a pleasure.



2. I have to say, I was certainly looking forward to reading this book, having heard much about it from family and friends (I'm from Zimbabwe). Perhaps it is the fact that I am not a white Zimbabwean, but from the first pages, I had a bitter taste in my mouth. I admired the writing, but that was about it. The overwhelming impression that we had of whites growing up in Zim became manifest in this book, and I was transported back to those days. The most disturbing thing for me was the lack of remorse...no, redemption, by the author. She would relay stories about her racist parents, her upbringing and such, and did not transmit any sense that all this was not right, not humane. Strange how the same words can be read by different people and evoke such divergent responses.



3. Alexandra Fuller is such a talented writer. I have read "Dogs" twice as it reminds me of my own African childhood. I have given it to friends who have loved it, so I decided it was time to listen to it on audio CD. I enjoyed it tremendously. Lisette Lecat's accents are wonderful and I could picture a young Bobo Fuller even more vividly than when I'd read the book. I found myself laughing in my car at times and couldn't wait to get back into the car so I could continue listening to Bobo's fascinating childhood story. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I am currently listening to Scribbling The Cat on audio CD.



4. I could hardly put this book down. It's the memoirs of a British girl growing up in Africa. Her story is absolutely fascinating. Highly recommended

4 comments about Mother and Me: Escape from Warsaw 1939.

1. Inspirational and entertaining. Julian recaptures the voice of a little boy and tells one of the great stories of WWII.



2. Julian Padowicz's perilous escape from Warsaw is an exciting adventure, made all the more engrossing because he conveys so much about his feelings and impressions of this time in his life. The young Julian, who seems at times wise beyond his years, has a wonderfully wry outlook on the varied circumstances in which he finds himself during the course of his journey. The author enables us to understand his doubts and fears, his joys and sorrows, and above all, his great need to connect with his mother. His story is truly a poignant and heart-warming chronicle.



3. Product received promptly and in good condition. I am very happy with your service.



4. Mother And Me: Escape From Warsaw 1939 by documentary flimmaker Julian Padowicz is the true story of a Jewish child who grew up estranged from his mother to the point of hating other Jews. Virtually ignored by his mother and raised by his Catholic governess Kiki -- who taught him that God didn't love Jews because of what they did to His Son and that the only way Julian could go to heaven was to become bapitized. Julian's world transformed forever when World War II came to Warsaw. Kiki had to return to her family; his stepfather joined the Polish army; and the mother who once barely made time for him assumed responsibility for raising him. Determined to provide for her son, Julian's mother cut in food lines and later, under Soviet occupation, befriended Russian officers for extra rations of food and fuel. In the winter of 1940 as conditions for survival deteriorated, Julian's mother brought him in a daring escape to Hungary on foot, through the Carpathian mountains. Mother And Me is an unforgettable memory of blood bonds being thicker than water, and a family love that burns most fiercely when family is threatened. Highly recommended.

No comments about The Last Eyewitnesses, Volume 2: The Children of the Holocaust Speak (Jewish Lives).

5 comments about The Language of Baklava: A Memoir.

1. A delightful book, filled with interesting stories about a larger-than-life bunch of characters and enhanced by recipes for the foods they eat. Meet a family pulled between Jordan and America, experience their tumuluous activities and sample (at least in imagination) the wonderful foods they are always eating.



2. Viscerally satisfying, moving, poetic...I can't get it out of my head...I wish it could have gone on and on and on....I want more....I want to cook with Ghasan...be fed rice from his hand...I want to hear more about how her Arab family loved Diana, and about her grown up love hinted at near the end of the book...how her sister's perceived the same world...I want to eat and sleep with Bedouin's in the desert by firelight...Please feed me more...



3. This is a miserable book. A few minutes in, it has a description of meat running with blood, then shortly later a detailed description of a botched, brutal slaughter of a baby lamb. That's when I tossed the book into the rubbish pile. I'd give it negative stars if that were possible, it certainly doesn't deserve even one star.



4. I loved Diana's humor and writing style. She made me very hungry but most importantly, she made me want to visit Jordan and be with Bedouins! She was very candid in criticizing what is wrong with the Arabic culture. I thought she did a great job and I recommend this book to all Americans but you'd better have an Arabic restaurant near you!



5. I just finished "The Language of Baklava" and loved the style, the honesty, the capture of nuances and details, and sense of humor. Having read many excellent food, travel, immigrant or multiethnic memoirists, this surpasses them all.
   As an Arab immigrant, I laughed out loud at the precise and non judgmental accounts contrasting Arab and American ways. I will strongly recommend this book to my American wife who is incessantly befuddled by my family's behavior when they visit or we visit them.
   This book is beyond food memories, it should be a classic of growing up as an immigrant's offspring. Diana Abu Jaber has a wonderful gift of making us feel with her and for her; of making us laugh and cry with her.

5 comments about Road Song.

1. In a culture that demonizes the poor and marginalizes the children of the poor, the Kusz family faces more than just 70 below temperatures, the author's tragic accident, hunger and squalor. Those who live more mainstream (read that affluent and conforming) lives, imagine those who live in rural (or urban) poverty as morally, intellectually and spiritually as well as financially impoverished. What Natalie Kusz does in this unforgettable memoir is to slow the reader down and draw her up close to those who travel that other road-- to allow the reader to view scenes of violence, abuse, charity and grace. The book is beautifully written. The only thing I would argue with is locating the father's backstory so close to the end of the book in one large chunk, instead of interspersing part of it throughout the book where it might shed some light on his own particular demons. Interestingly, I read each of the other reviews of this book and found in every one some bit of wisdom and thoughtfulness. This book is well worth reading twice--first for the story and then for a fruitful discussion of memoir.



2. I was very excited when I found this memoir at a gently used bookstore. I thought it was very good. I felt like I was traveling to Alaska right along with Natalie. This is one of those books that you hope will have a sequel someday.



3. I read this book years ago, and found it very moving. I think Ms. Kusz is a good writer and extremely courageous. Her childhood (quite honestly) sounds horrible, but her parents are very loving and kind and smart.
   
   One thing that did disturb me about the book was that Ms. Kusz seemed to need to convince us that her parents were right in leaving LA for Alaska. For example, she writes that she and her siblings (aged 1 to 7) were sick of modern life and its accroutrements. This is hard to believe! Little kids don't know enough about the world yet to be sick of it.
   
   In LA, her parents had a house, jobs, a large backyard, family close by, warm weather, etc. In Alaska, they had nothing. They didn't even have enough money to buy the land they wanted so much. How could her parents uproot four young kids for such an uncertain future! Can you imagine her mom's life--even before Natalie's terrible accident. Four little kids, no money, not enough food, husband away working, living in a trailer with no bathroom, the weather sometimes 50 or 60 below.
   
   All the things her parents wanted--outdoor life, contact with wildlife, streams, orchards, etc., -- none of that happens in Alaska. There's no mention of the family having fun doing "country" things. It seems their adventure was not successful. Perhaps if Natalie hadn't gotten hurt things might have been different, but it doesn't seem that likely. They still were poverty-stricken, without a home or a job, living in a place where it got 70 below. I once saw a review that said the Kusz decision to move was almost comprable to child abuse, and I am tempted to agree.
   
   With that said, I really admire Natalie's ability to rise above a terribly painful childhood, filled with extraordinary physical pain. I hope she is well and I wish she'd write another book.



4. Originally it was the title that popped out on this one: aha! another great travel novel, I hoped. Oh no, much better and much more intense!!! A woman reconstructs for us the story of her unusual "hippy" parents, her father a refugee from Poland's wartime harshness. The parents have four children and cannot stand the modern life of the Southern California suburbs. Off they go, packed up in an old truck, all the way to Alaska. With a relative's gift/loan, they buy land and begin to build a house on the outskirts of Fairbanks. Needless to say, money is very tight, jobs are scarce, and the winter is setting in. The parents scrounge through the Salvation Army and the local U.S. Army dump for supplies, even finding food to keep them going. They are true pioneers in the face of horrible winter weather: -50F in a perpetual icefog, through which the kids sometimes trek to get to the the schoolbus stop.
   
   Natalie's account of her horrific accident, when underfed huskies break their chains and rip her face off, ruining one eye, is one of these memoirs almost impossible to believe is true. But yes, it is true, and luckily the parents have insurance, and are able, in the late 1960's, to save their daughter, fight infection from reaching her brain, and have her face reconstructed over years of medical appointments.
   
   In addition to this horrible disaster, the parents are barely making it financially, and for years, simply live together packed in a trailer out in the wilderness, far from town. The kids get older, need to go to school, and find that the local town is full of rough-tough kids, mainly from the U.S.Army base, who early fall into drugs, drinking and promiscuity. So of course, our Natalie does so as well, but doesn't tell her parents, until the news she can't avoid: she's pregnant at 16.
   
   On and on this story goes, and makes the reader want to keep on going for more. It's true that it's not exceptionally well-written - certainly it seems a bit too casual in its style. The author, only 27, does come across as self-involved, but perhaps that's understandable. Her mother's early death and father's early onset of heart disease make this tragedy almost unbearable. One wonders how she really could have done it all, including with the little girl, raising her alone.
   
   Definitely a great read, not at all typical "American" in any yearning for a better life. She concludes that she is attached to Alaska and decides at the time of writing (1990) that she will go back and stay up there, near her father's house.



5. As a fellow writer oh how I hated Natalie Kusz as I read her book. She is that rare combination of a brilliant writer and someone with something to say. I could barely contain my envy, and admiration, as I read. This is a book that disappoints only because it ends.

5 comments about Soldier: A Poet's Childhood.

1. I don't read autobiographies because they're usually self-serving. I wait until someone with distance does justice to a life.

   Soldier, though, is the exception to my rule. June Jordan is able to look back over what seems a chaotic and sometimes cold, cruel childhood, and put it into the context of her life.

   The style is many times lyrical and poetic. The words draw you in and keep you reading. The story works back and forth between what's actually happening to June, the child, and what she's thinking about as it unfolds. It's quite different from most autobiographies.

   While I understand her father's quest to make sure his child is never a victim, his methods seem too brutal for words. It was a different time, and reality for an African-American is different, too, but reading about it is grueling.

   I did have a problem with the fact that June's memories seem much too clear. I may be missing the point, but I don't know anyone who can remember her childhood with such clarity and from the age of six months. Perhaps this is literacy license. If so, fine. The problem, then, is mine.

   No matter, this book is a fabulous read. I whipped through it in two hours.




2. June Jordan, African American Studies professor at UC Berkeley, has written a moving testament to her chaotic, challenging, and bittersweet childhood. This memoir written in a poetic manner is reminiscent of Sandra Cisneros' "House on Mango Street". The daughter of West Indian immigrants who revered education and hard work, she endured almost daily verbal assaults on her gender and physical abuse from her father. He was on one hand a supporter of Marcus Garvey and on the other hand felt the need to put down the American black at every turn. Her mother was a submissive, silent woman who realized that her daughter was her husband's son. Jordan's memories of the people who made an impact on her life and character, her Nanny, her Uncle Teddy, her camp friend, Jodi along with tales of childhood death-defying accidents, academic excellence, and first crushes are just bits and parts that serve to make this memoir a compelling read.



3. Sure to be a classic. A wonderfully charming and moving series of memories, observations, and poetic passages about a childhood at turns sweet, innocent, and difficult. Sometimes children make the most clear-eyed and wise observers, and it is the rare adult, such as June Jordan, who can recapture and communicate the experience of childhood in both its wonder and bewilderment. Although the elements of Jordan's childhood are specific - 19302/1940s, brusque, occaisionally-violent immigrant father, Harlem and Brooklyn neighborhoods, racial and social inequity - the themes are universal. Wonderful!



4. Over the past 40 years civil rights has come a long way and progress has been made in areas that makes life easier. But imagine if you had to struggle with poor education, terrible living conditions, and even segregation. Now imagine trying to get ahead in a world and society that was making all this an impossible task.

   June Jordan takes you on a twelve year journey through the eyes of one person who life was given these circumstances and somehow managed to succeed and become one of the most successful people, her own. June Jordan tells a story through words and poems that has you stopping and thinking throughout the entire 260 pages.

   The book is one of the first I have read that makes a clear representation of how a child caught up in turmoil can block out what they see and find something good in the life they have been given. Jordan's ability to capture the reader makes this book one of the most impressive I have read so far this year.

   After reading this book and seeing how the tough and often overbearing father along with the serine and religious mother were at odds, I gained a deeper understating of how difficult it must have been for any African American to try to make and succeed in the white man's world.

   Jordan has written several other books and has won a number of prestigious awards over the years. I found this book enjoyable and easy to read. Take time out and follow through the 12 years with a child who I found dealt with the same things I did as a child, only Jordan had them magnified. An excellent book!




5. June Jordan is not a victim. She shows us that difficult childhoods aren't as straightfoward as that. Her violent father may have taught her to solve problems with violence, but he also taught her to be observant. The best part of this book is that we hear the words and see places that influenced Jordan's writing style: her father, her Uncle Teddy, New York of the 30's and 40's.

5 comments about An Open Book: Coming of Age in the Heartland.

1. I read this book a year or two ago, but remembered it again recently while reading Wendy Werris's new memoir, An Alphabetical Life, because both reflect such a love of books. To people like Dirda and Werris - and me - books are nearly as important as eating, loving, breathing. And that affinity is so astutely reflected here in Michael Dirda's story of his childhood in Lorraine, Ohio. It's a midwest boyhood to the nth degree, albeit one of a kind of nerdy, bookish unathletic kid. I was a kid like Mike. I could relate. If you grew up in the fifties and sixties and loved books, then don't miss this one. It will take you back - to those dusty, second-hand bookstores you found with such joy, and to your folks yelling at you to "getcher nose outa that book and go outside for a while! It's a beautiful day, dammit!" Like that. Thanks for sharing your kidhood, Mike. - Tim Bazzett, author of Reed City Boy



2. This is an extraordinary story of an ordinary life. From comic books, to the Hardy Boys to Faust to the French classics, we go on a ride through books with Mike Dirda. I also grew up in the Midwest at about the same time and I can identify with just about every page of the book. Extraordinary.



3. As a frequent reader what struck me most about Mr. Dirda's book is that it is not quite like anything else out there. In this day and age, uniqueness is rare and that alone makes the book a standout
   
   Dirda transmits his love of reading within the framework of his coming of age. The fun part of the book it is that the ever shifting reference points for his love of reading keep the reader delightfully off balance.
   
   Well done and worth reading.



4. Everything Michael wrote in his book brought back so many boyhood memories for for my friend. It wasn't just the big things, it was the little things Dirda wrote about that brought smiles and tugged at the heart.



5. As I am a near contemporary of the author in age, I found an uncanny mirroring of my life in his...similar touchstones of products, events, TV shows, etc. many of which I had long forgotten. But what was the key pleasure of reading about this otherwise common life (and I throw myself in that descriptor as well)was the impact that various books had on him...something I could also identify with as another lifelong avid reader.
   
   Dirda mentions book titles to show how they affected his imagination, his decisions, his way of looking at the world. For those who argue there is no concrete utility in reading and are satisfied that future generations are losing this habit, this book is the best argument to the contrary I know. Not that there is any solemnity to his story or any self-importance. His is a wry, affectionate tale of growing up in the straight-laced Midwest in the 50's. But it is his love of literature that irradiates his story. Recommended for those who want to remember why they love to read and how they got that way.

5 comments about The Fourteenth Year.

1. "The Fourteenth Year" is an inspiring book that will touch your heart. As you read the book, you have to wonder how this child managed to deal with everything that happened to her and grow up to lead a normal life with her husband and children. I admire Kelly's strength and brutal honesty as it must have been difficult to re-live her childhood in order to write this book, let alone have it published and reviewed by a bunch of strangers. When I read the book, I was reading for "enjoyment", not to analyze the feasibility of what items were inconsistent within her story. I admire her for her determination to survive and for the work she is currently doing on behalf of children who are abused.
   
   My one complaint about this book is that it left me feeling like I wanted more. While I am sure Kelly poured out her heart and soul, I felt like there was something disjointed or disconnected between myself and the individuals I was reading about. I almost felt like the book was superficial and Kelly couldn't dig deep enough within herself other than to simply scratch the surface of her life story. Perhaps, this is simply due to the trauma she endured or maybe, she simply chose to tell us what she wanted us to know. Either way, I hope to see a continuation of her memoir in the future.



2. this book truly cuts deep to the guts.... there are is no sugar coating of the facts as a young girl survives things that no human nor animal should ever have to bear. the glimmer of hope does shine through at the end, that she does survive (physically ) intact. I am wishful that young victims of this kind of abuse could read her writing and realize that they too could survive (possibly finding a way to cope without choosing drugs, alcohol and promiscuity), i also feel strongly that this book should be read by all involved in law enforcement, teachers and all in children's services of any kind. it is almost a handbook of the type of behaviors that should call an alert to abuse.
   
   i am hoping that kelly will publish a "part 2".



3. This was a sad story but there were way too many inconsistencies throughout. For example; she talks about being promiscuous after losing her virginity to a boyfriend, and later she talks about losing her virginity to her father.
   
   After she runs away and the father is arrested for abuse, she talks about her friends who also accused him of abusing them. But, when she lies and says it never happened, her father is allowed to walk out. What happened to the charges against him for molesting her friends? This is never mentioned again. I'm sure the trauma affects the memories but an editor should have been able to clean some of this up.



4. This book touched my heart and soul.
   I believe it takes a great deal of courage to reveal such details of a person's life in order to help others.
   Kelly has put her story out there to let people in similiar situations know that they are not alone and there is hope.
   She proves that dreams and personal achievements do not have to be lost at the hands of an abuser.
   A very personal and candid look into a part of an abused girl's life and the coping mechanisms used to get through.
   I highly recommend this book.



5. This book is a raw account of a young girls fight to survive years of repeated abuse. Throughout the book the writer sheds a ray of hope that one day she will have a normal, loving family of her own. The thought of a family gives her the strength to live. This book is very easy to read. Each chapter left me amazed of how the writer was able to go on. It is a story of how a young girl was able to triumph over unbeatable odds. I highly recommend this book!

3 comments about Brooklyn Dodgers The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957.

1. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1EIEQOIOW3D1R Call Me Sonya Grey



2. John Nordell's tribute to one of baseball's most storied and inspirational teams, reaching its zenith in one of the sport's greatest
   eras, has lots to recommend it to the aficionado. Brooklyn Dodgers, The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957, is a work of art on a couple of levels.
   Precisely and painstakingly researched - the sense of "play by play" is
   both engaging and eerie - it has at least as much charm, never losing sight of the fact that this book speaks to both history and American folklore. The Bums - that is the boys - from Brooklyn: Gil, Duke, Junior, Carl, and Johnny - well, all of them, are nothing if not folklore.
   His attention to statistics could cause a CPA to nod appreciatively, but Mr. Nordell's book is also personal narrative. He includes numerous photos of the team in action, on and off the diamond, many of which he
   took with his family at one big game. All this adds to the charm of a book that will stand alone as the quintessential telling of one magical year in the sport.



3. The Weekender, June 20, 2007
   by Alison Myers
   
   After first considering the idea of writing a book about his favorite baseball team in 1997, and beginning research in 2005, historian John Nordell's book about the Brooklyn Dodgers' last year in Brooklyn has finally come to life in "Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957."
   
   Nordell, an Old Forge resident whose primary interest is on military and diplomatic history, had been thinking about writing his book for years and originally wanted to write it in 1997, the 40th anniversary of the last Brooklyn season. He first became interested in baseball back in 1956 while watching a game between the Dodgers and the New York Yankees. He began following Brooklyn in the beginning of the 1957 season.
   
   The center of the story surrounds a game Nordell saw at Ebbets Field on July 18, 1957 between the Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals. The game made such great history that, according to Nordell, the Sporting News later referred to the ninth inning as "the most fantastic inning of the season." Although the main highlight of the book is the Dodgers' memorable year, it also discusses the decision makers and factors involved in deciding to move the franchise to Los Angeles at the end of the season.
   
   "It was a truly amazing game, and seeing it was the most exciting thing I have ever experienced." Nordell wrote in an e-mail. "I was determined that I was not going to let the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' last year in Brooklyn go by without telling this story."
   
   The season also featured some of the all-time best professional baseball players, including Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo, and Roy Campanella.
   
   In order to obtain further information for his writing, Nordell used books already written about the Dodgers and then began looking up primary sources in August 2005. He explored microfilms at the Osterhout Free Library in Wilkes-Barre and the Albright Memorial Library in Scranton. He also traveled to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, and the New York Public Library. There, he found a baseball website called Retro Sheet (http://www.retrosheet.org). The idea behind the website is to give box scores, narratives, transactions, and other data from as many Major League Baseball games prior to 1984 as possible.
   
   Nordell already had research materials of his own, including books, magazines and personal memories. The writing of the book was completed in spring 2006, but he worked on researching photographs well into the summer and fall. "Photos add greatly to a book and my book on the Dodgers has 37." Nordell said.
   
   He describes the process of writing a book as "tremendously satisfying." In order to put together such a project, he says one should have an eye for detail, an organized filing system, and a love for the project they are working on. Having a word processing system is a big help as well.
   
   For those interested in purchasing a copy, Nordell hopes to take them back to the excitement the Dodgers provided for their fans right up until they left Brooklyn.
   
   "Virtually lost to history was the Dodgers' mid-season surge in the standings during that last year. The memories that I have of Brooklyn's last pennant drive, along with the game that I saw, also gives the book a personal dimension that I think readers will enjoy."
   
   "Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive, 1957" is available at local bookstores or online through http://tribute-books.com. Anyone wishing to find out more about the book can visit http://www.brooklyndodgersbaseball.com
   
   What: John Nordell Book Signings
   
   Where: Barnes and Noble stores and Borders near the Viewmont Mall
   
   When:
   June 28
   Barnes and Noble
   7 South Main St. in Wilkes-Barre (11:30 a.m.)
   August 11
   Barnes and Noble
   421 Arena Hub Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township (2-4 p.m.)
   September 1
   Borders
   100 Viewmont Mall, Scranton (2-4 p.m.)
   
   For more information: Visit http://www.brooklyndodgersbaseball.com

5 comments about No Place Safe.

1. This beautifully written book by Kim Reid is both sensitive and timeless. It is about so much more than it appears: A daughter's conflictual and complicated relationship with the mother she loves and yearns for, a black child coming to terms with the white majority, a child faced with the unstoppable murders of children just like her, and a child becoming a woman, to name just a few. Ms. Reid's writing is sensitive and emotional yet not cloying or annoying. She takes us into her experiences with a subtle and skilled hand that allows us to go there right along with her. I came out of reading this book with a profound respect for the writer, as well as a new appreciation of growing up black in the days of the Atlanta child murders. I highly recommend this book and look forward to seeing what the author comes up with next.



2. The way Reid interweaves the story of tragic lost lives of children with her own sort of "lost chldhood" is brilliant, esp. from the point of view of her cop mother being so deeply involved in the cases. It's just really a fantastic read. It has stayed with me for days, especially being a mom. Heartbreaking, of course. And they never found the killer, which just tears me up. But there's much more to the book than that. She weaves that story beautifully with her own.



3. I could not put this book down. I ended up reading all of it in two settings. It is an endearing story of a girl growing up in the most challenging of situations during her tender and impressionable teen years. The "coming of age" story allows the reader to feel like they are there, reflecting back to their own childhoods, and see a very complex world with unfathomable situations through the eyes of a street smart and feisty 13 year old. There were several parts that I laughed out loud and others I was aghast at the very pointed racism that this young teen had to experience. Great book Kim, you are to be well commended for such a great first book.



4. NO PLACE SAFE details the consuming, high-pressure investigations of the 1979-1981 disappearances and murders of black boys and young men in Atlanta--investigations in which author Kim Reid's mother worked as a lead investigator. While this story alone propels this book to read like a compelling novel, Kim's powerful revelations about her schools, her community, her family, and herself make this a powerful document of life in a major Southern city during an especially tumultuous time.



5. Author Kim Reid beautifully captured the voice of an Atlanta 13-year-old who is mother to her younger sister while their single mom works as a police officer; is one of few black students who attend an all-white private school in a distant, affluent neighborhood; and who lives unnervingly close to where dozens of black boys and young men have been murdered (Atlanta Child Murders starting in 1979).
   
   Reid includes information that isn't common knowledge--at least not to me: "Until the early sixties, black officers could arrest only black citizens. In 1979, white and black patrolmen had been allowed to partner in only the last ten years, and black cops were still in a minority, which meant they stuck together outside of work. The only tie that bound black and white cops then was the fact that on the job, they were cops regardless of what they looked like. Fortunately, that was usually enough."
   
   In one instance she brilliantly summarizes her mother's character: A white police officer stopped by her house at 2:00 a.m., expecting to be accommodated. "At two in the morning?' Ma said. Cop or no cop, she sounded like she was ready to bless the man out. There weren't many things that pleased Ma as much as a good night's sleep, which I always believed was here escape from having to work extra jobs, being a cop, a single mother, and just being a black woman in general."
   
   If this book had been written as a young adult novel set in 1979-1982, I would give it five stars. Why? Because it focuses on issues that are still important to teens today. Reid's title is also good for a novel, although I'd suggest she come up with one that hasn't been used before, so it'll be more recognizable. But as a memoir, the book is thin; it should have included more information about the murders, and an more in-depth analysis of what her mother and sister also went through.