I finished the first half of this book while in a doctor's waiting room. Captive audience. I really have no idea what people who don't read do when they are faced with an hour and a half wait in a sterile doctor's room. I always have a book or two or four just in case of a train. The rest of the book took a couple of days and I just wasn't driven to devour it.
There is a part of me that says I'm just a white girl and I have no right to judge this book that deals with the African American experience. However, I've read a plenty of books by and for African American children and there are many that I love that are so well written that I can gush over them for most anybody. And I very easily identify with characters in books. It's kind of crazy to find yourself thinking "us versus them" and the "them" are the whites in the book.
This book is about Francie, a twelve-year-old girl in rural Alabama sometime in the 1950s or prior. You really don't know. We do know that she lives with her mom and her little brother. We also know that she attends a one-room schoolhouse and excels there. Her teacher encourages her love of books. Her father went to Chicago to find a better job for himself and a better life for his family. They haven't seen him for a long time and look forward to joining him when he has raised the money to move them. Francie's mother works seven days a week for various white families to earn enough to get the family by. Money from Chicago does not come often or consistently. When the kids aren't in school, they work too. Francie alongside her mother and young Franklin, known as Prez (think FDR), at a local chicken farm.
The rest of the book isn't as solid. Like I said earlier, we kind of have 3 decades to choose from. The only indication of time period is the reference to Prez being named after FDR. Part of the book takes place at school and you feel like this is a school type book where most of the important stuff will occur in the classroom. But it doesn't. The second half of the book is during summer vacation. In fact, most of the contact we see between Francie and her teacher is in the teacher's boarding house room when Francie comes to pick up laundry. To make things stranger, her teacher is rarely present even in the classroom. She's gone somewhere for two weeks. We aren't told where or why, but the Principal of the school is her substitute.
Another thing that I find extremely odd for the good or bad is lack of clearly defined whites and blacks. Can I please say blacks without offense? I had no clue if Francie's teacher was white, black or colored or if it made a difference. There were plenty of characters for whom I couldn't determine what they were, but surmised it by their actions. They do something wrong, then they are white. They are kind and they are black. But that doesn't always work because I think one character may have been white 'cause he drives a car, but he gives Francie a lift home ... hmmmm. Very confusing.
There is an entire subplot that could make for interesting, but it doesn't carry through the entire book. A sixteen-year-old boy attends Francie's school briefly. It is his first time ever in the classroom and he cannot read. Francie is assigned to tutor him after school everyday and she finds fulfillment in it. But then he leaves and never comes back to school. The next time we hear of him, he is accused of assaulting his white boss and he is in hiding. Francie goes out of her way to help him at great risk to herself and her family.
Another subplot that is implied is that Francie's father may very well have another family in Chicago and this is the reason he hasn't moved them North yet. It is also why he has chosen not to visit them anymore. Francie's mother is obviously saddened by it. Francie and Prez are brokenhearted by it. And everyone gossips about it. The family resolutely maintains that they will be joining him in the fall, while all of the townspeople deride them for such faith and hope.
There are so many good things here. But the delivery is where it failed. I can see that we are trying to save this book from the chopping block. We have one copy left and we like to keep starred reviews and honorees. There is a review pasted in the front cover which tells me that someone wanted to give the book another chance despite its low circulation. Having read it, I have no problem withdrawing it from the collection. If you want to save it ... put a request on it, otherwise I might snag it to deliberate a bit longer ...
No comments:
Post a Comment