Sweetest Hallelujah by Elaine Hussey

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Racism in the south is like another character in this story of love and two women- one white and the other black.  But calling it a story of love makes it sound sappy and predictable - and that is to short change it.  This is a story of worlds crashing and reshaping in the midst of deep heart break!  A story of strength and frailty.

Betty Jewel is a washed up jazz singer who burned brightly with Saint a famous trumpeter. But drugs and fame soured everything and Betty Jewel fled from her marriage to Shakerag, Mississippi to be with her mama and raise her daughter. In a last ditch effort to save that daughter, she takes out an ad in the local paper looking for someone to adopt her girl after she passes from cancer.

Cassie is the lily white widow of a much beloved local coach. Since his death she has floundered her way through life barely living and depending on her job at the local newspaper to keep her going. She notices the ad and decides it would make a wonderful human interest story.

And thus the worlds crash.

But - this is not a touchy feely feel good story.

At the heart of this story is a 10 year old girl who will soon be without a mama.  Billie, who sneaks around listening at keyholes, can not imagine a life without her mama - unless she is able to find her papa - Saint - and life with him.

Laid across the top of this story is the busted history of Jim Crow laws and lynchings in the south.

There were times this felt like a different version of The Help.  But, Betty Jewel and Cassie are not merely telling a story  - they are living it.  Their lives are interwoven in a way that the south can not rip apart.

I really liked this book.  I especially liked Billie. After teaching 10 year olds all those years - I felt like I knew her innocent and bare face.  Her bravado and her depth of pain were real to me!  The fantasies that she creates and believes in even while she knowing they can't be real - rang true!

I would recommend this!!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This was an excellent book too!

I was completely drawn into the world of Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. Each woman fighting their own battle in their own way...winning some days and losing other days. Skeeter is the gangly, unperfect daughter of a perfect Mississippi Lady - yes with a capital L. Her dream is to be a reporter...and yes it's a dream. Through a series of rather embarrassing phone calls with the editor of a New York magazine she begins a task that changes the lives of many people around her.

Aibileen is the governess/nanny/maid/servant/Help of one of Skeeter's childhood friends. Aibileen has thanklessly focused her love and attention on 17 white children over the years - quietly reminding them that they are beautiful and wonderful and black is not awful and dirty. Aibileen's quiet and steady prayers draw people to her and give her the strength to begin telling her story to Skeeter.

Then there is Minny. The best cook in all of Jackson, Mississippi and a mouth that has gotten her fired from one too many jobs. Her fire is perfectly balanced by Aibileen's peace. Their friendship gives both courage.

Ok - this sounds a bit dull as I am describing it...but it isn't! This is a story of civil unrest and disobedience on a very grassroots level. As Aibileen and Minny tell the stories of their lives and encourage others to do the same - things change. White women who would not have had the courage to march, or even disagree with their husbands, quietly support their help.

This is a story of humanity and suffering and love and class distinctions an cruelty and forgiveness...and I loved it! I was cheering for Skeeter all the way.

But - I think my favorite part is the end...as worlds are crashing and being rebuilt - life goes on!

Another strong recommendation - I hope the movie does it justice!!!

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

I loved this book!
It is the story of Lavania and the family that she has created for herself. The story opens with Lavania being deposited at the kitchen house by the Captain. Lavania is a frightened and deeply disoriented little girl whose parents have both died on the Captain's ship as it crossed the Atlantic. Her older brother was sold into indentured servitude and the Captain didn't know what to do with her so she was given to the slaves at the kitchen on his plantation.

What a lucky turn of events for Lavania!

Through Belle and Big Mamma, two of the kitchen slaves, Lavania slowly comes to her senses and begins to grow -to blossom. We find out about the terrible disfunction of this plantation where the Captain is away for long periods of time and his wife is too doped up on Opium to be sensible. The slaves are run by a horrible overseer - sounds a little stereotypical - but probably true too.

This is a window into the world of a plantation through the eyes of a scared, lonely girl who slowly grows into a beautiful colorblind woman. Being colorblind in the south before the civil war is not always an easy thing - as Lavania learns again and again.

The only part of this book I didn't like was the beginning. The book opens with a scene that actually takes place much later in the story. It made me dread that moment and jump to conclusions about it. I'm sure that is what Grissom wanted - but it really took away from the story for me. I actually stopped reading for a day because I didn't want it to happen. And then I felt a bit manipulated.

But - aside from that I would strongly recommend this! I read it right after The Help. Interesting to have those two stories back to back in my head...the South from long ago and not so long ago with many of the same issues still there...

Read it!

Singing Hands by Delia Ray

image from LibraryThing

My good friend, Phyllis, recommended this book to me. She knows my connections to sign language. It's one of the new books in our school library this year.

Here is a great moment in time captured by the granddaughter of two deaf grandparents. So, it's based on many real family stories of Delia. The story centers around Gussie who hates that her deaf parents aren't like everyone else in Birmingham. It all comes to a head one hot summer. It begins with her humming loudly during the worship service at the deaf church where her father is the minister - she and her two hearing sisters are the only ones that can hear her.

Her nasty and obstinate side continues through clandestine searches through the boarders rooms upstairs and continues to her skipping Sunday school at the hearing church downtown. All this naughtiness comes to a screeching halt when she is discovered. Her punishment is a very eye-opening experience which changes the way she sees her family and her life.

I worked with hearing impaired students for 2 years in Ohio and lived with a hearing impaired adult. Nancy taught me sign language and a whole lot more. I think she would really like this book.

Nancy grew up in the mid 70s when signing was still not really very accepted. She went through hearing schools and was proud of her lip reading abilities. That is until she went to Galludet College in Washington DC. It was there that she understood and embraced what it meant to be deaf. She completely changed her life. She became a teacher of deaf children - starting a preschool for deaf kids in Wooster, OH. That's where I came to know her. Today, Nancy is teaching deaf children in Belize.

This book made me think about what life was like for Nancy - growing up different. When I lived in Ohio, Nancy and I went out to eat one time and sat at the table signing back and forth to each other. I didn't really think about it until the waitress came to our table and didn't know what to do. She stood and stared and then bent over and very carefully and clearly asked us for our order. There was a moment when I had to decide what to do... I answered her, she blushed and moved away. In that moment - I understood what it really felt like to be different - to be deaf.

Trapped in Slickrock Canyon by Gloria Skurzynski

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This is another one I read to my students. This is a GREAT read aloud - filled with action and adventure.

Justin and Gina are first cousin who despise one another. There is so much cousin rivalary that they can hardly stand to be in the same place.

Justin grew up on a farm in Arizona working hard to earn everything he has. Gina grew up in Denver daughter of an orthepedic surgeon and a mom who decided to leave home to throw pots in San Franciso.

This story takes place in the canyon land of Arizona. Justin and Gina's Dads have gone rock climbing. When Gina's dad almomst falls everyone decided it's too hard for Gina to watch, so Justin unhappily leads her on a hike to see a rock petroglyph. As they near the rock carving they hear a buzz saw and discover two men stealing the carving. When Gina lets out a huge scream, the men discover them and the chase is on... Add to this quick sand, gun shots, a cloud burst and a flash flood and you have just the kind of book 4th graders love to hear.

This was a Iowa Children's Choice Book one of the first years I taught.... that was a long time ago!! But, my students have enjoyed it every time I've read it since.

Between, Georgia by Joshilyn Jackson

Nonny Frett is the kind of woman that only appears between the pages of a book. A woman whose deaf-blind adopted momma makes breathtaking porcelain doll heads while her OCD, anxiety-ridden aunt (her mother's twin sister) sews the body. A 30-something sign-language interpreter in the midst of divorcing a man she is still sometimes sleeping with. THere are just too many oddities for one woman, aren't there??

Yet Nonny invites the reader into her world and the chaos that she lives in, and I happily joined her in Between, Georgia. Nonny is the birth daughter of a Crabtree, the poster family for poor white trash. She was adopted by the Fretts, the cliche of pure white southern Baptists. Yet the Fretts are controlled, run and generally bullied into compliance by Bernese, Nonny's other aunt. There is more than a little trashiness in Bernese's tactics and more than a little gentility Ona Crabtree (Nonny's birth grandmother.)

There is also a dog mauling, a bit of book store passion, a fire, and a near death experience. It is a book that invites you in for a cup of sweet southern tea, and you happily accept.

I really liked this book for all it's quirky sweetness. It's quite predictible - but that doesn't take way from it's charm.
I would highly recommend this one!

Red River by Lalita Tademy

This was our July book club book. I can't decide how I felt about this one. It's well written and a great fictionalization of an actual event. But, it's really depressing. It's another example of the ways we (White Americans) have messed up the lives of others. I kept wondering how I can help improve this history. What can I do? How can I improve the lives of those around?

The book is a retelling of a Massacre that our history has called a riot. Blacks in Colfax, Louisiana voted Republican and the Democrats in power were unhappy with the change. So unhappy that they kidnapped the sheriff and stormed the court house. A place held by local blacks who were told that the Federals from New Orleans would be coming to help. Unfortunately, that didn't quite happen. Instead 105 blacks were killed along with 3 whites. THe trials went all the way to the Supreme court and the innocence of the mob of whites was upheld. That's really hard to read and understand.

This book follows the Tademy family - the author's ancestors. They played a key role in the uprising and the following years in the Colfax area - including starting a black school.

i think it's really important to read this - but it didn't make it any easier!!!

07/07

The Color of Water by James McBride

This was a great book to read after To Kill A Mockingbird. These books walked a lot of the same path, but with very different outcomes.

James is the child of a Jewish mother who married a black man and was permenantly torn from her birth family because of that. This is the story of deep love for a family and for God, and the way that love can overcome.

James tells an amazing story. Weaving his mother’s past and his own past together.

Another one to recommend!!

06/07

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I read this years and years ago and can’t believe how much I forgot! It was a great June read!

The last time I read it, I wasn’t a parent. It makes things happen completely differently as I read it through a parents’ eyes. Atticus was an amazing man. My favorite line is ...”Atticus is the same on the street as he is in the courtroom.” I’ve thought about that so often. Could my children describe me the same way? Am I the same in the classroom as at home?

I had forgotten a lot of the parts that tie the story together - only remembering sketchily how the story connects.

I would strongly recommend this one for a great read again - or a wonderful introduction to life in the south a long time ago!!

May book club

06/07