Each school year, every teacher in our district has to make goals to improve our instruction in some way. My main goal this year was to read more books about people who unlike me, and encourage my students to do the same. My September book selections were made with that goal in mind. Between moving, renovating our 70-year-old house, traveling, and going back to school, my reading for the past two months has been way down. In September, I only completed four books. Three were nonfiction and one was fiction. One book got 5/5 stars on Goodreads, two got 4/5 stars and one only got 2/5 stars. Here is what I thought of each book.
Don't Let Them Bury My Story *****
by Viola Ford Fletcher
Viola Ford Fletcher was just seven years old when the Greenwood area of Tulsa, Oklahoma was burned to the ground and many of its black residents murdered in cold blood. Now known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, this horrible event destroyed the vibrant town that was known as the "Black Wall Street" and left many of its residents dead or displaced. The massacre became buried history for almost 100 years, and many people never heard of it. Personally, I lived part of my childhood in a town in Oklahoma less than 100 miles from Tulsa and neither me or my parents were aware of this stain on Oklahoma history, that, when I lived there, was only 40 years in the past. In this book, Viola Ford Fletcher, 109 when the book was published, recounts the horrifying events of the night in 1921 when her childhood hometown was burned and its residents, including some of Fletcher's playmates, were killed because of their skin color. Although Fletcher was not a professional writer, her first person descriptive account of what happened was horrifying. She tells not only of that night, but what happened after, as a result of the violent, destructive racism. She recounts the lifelong traumatic impact on her and her family. In 2021, she, her last living brother and one other woman were called to testify about the Tulsa Race Massacre before Congress. Finally, she was able to tell her story to the world, and the world listened. In July of 2023, she published her memoir, which is definitely worth reading. I read an electronic version of this book on the Kindle app on my phone. The book should be read by every American so that everyone can know of the horrors or racism and white supremacy. I gave the gook 5/5 stars on Goodreads and highly recommend it. (If you don't know the details of the horrific Tulsa Race Massacre, please take a moment to read about it here).
The 57 Bus ****
by Dashka Slater
I believe that one reason that reading is so important, is that it gives us empathy for others as we read about their lives. The 57 Bus is one such book. It is the true story of a horrific crime that took place in Oakland, California in 2013. A 16-year-old black boy lit the skirt of a white boy who identified as "agender" or nonbinary. The white boy was wearing a skirt on a public transit bus, and had fallen asleep. The black boy, at the urging of his friends, took a lighter and held it to the white boy's skirt. Flames engulfed the white boy's legs, causing serious injury. the black youth was arrested and charged with a hate crime.
This fascinating and compelling story details the circumstances and what happened to both youths, the white boy who "identified" as "agender" and took on the name of Sasha and wore skirts, and the black boy, disadvantaged youth, who spent several years locked up for his cruel and thoughtless act.
I won't comment here about my own thoughts on people who believe that gender is fluid or changeable. I am a practicing Christian and my views on sex and gender are by and large very conservative, but I do not believe that anyone should be bullied, hurt, shunned or mistreated in any way for the person choices they make, including choices about gender and pronouns. This tragic story, is sad for the victim and perpetrator of the crime, but ultimately the ending is hopeful as repentance and forgiveness make a way forward for both parties and their families.
I understand that some parents have asked to have this book "banned" from schools. While the main character is a male who dresses as a female, has taken a female name and identifies as neither male nor female, there is no explicit sex and very little objectionable language in the book. It seems completely appropriate for high school students and, in fact, is on the shelf of my classroom now. I gave the book 4/5 stars on Goodreads and I read the hard copy edition of the book.
Poverty, By America **
by Matthew Desmond
I read Matthew Desmond's first book, Evicted, and it was excellent. In that book, Desmond wrote about poverty stricken families and individuals who are evicted from the substandard places they live - mostly trailers in run down trailer courts. Desmond actually moved into the places he wrote about and put a face on the tragic poverty statistics we have all heard about. The book, Poverty, By America, however, was nowhere near as good as Evicted. I listened to the audiobook of Poverty, By America and it felt like a long, boring political speech. I felt like the book was mostly statistics and the author's rather simplistic and "easy" solutions to an overwhelmingly huge problem in America. When our nation is as divided as it is, the first victims are those who have the least. I believe in the seriousness of poverty and the detriment it is to our nation and society, but I didn't find this book particularly interesting, informative or inspirational. I listened to the audiobook from our local library and only gave it 2/5 stars on Goodreads.
The Familiar Dark ****
by Amy Engel
When 12-year-old BFFs Junie and Izzy are murdered in a deserted park on a snowy day in early spring, Junie's mother, Eve, vows to find the murderer herself and administer her own justice. Knowing that the small, hardscrabble ozark town where she grew up and raised her own daughter held dark secrets at every turn, Eve follows the killer's trail until it leads right back to the place where it all began for Eve and her only sibling, brother Cal. After leaving the rundown trailer where they brought themselves up as their mother cooked meth, hosted drug parties and and brought home strange men, Eve became a young single mother who worked hard and tried to avoid her mother and the life she had been raised in. Cal became a police officer and vowed to always protect his sister and her daughter. As Eve follows the murder's trail she finds that she can never truly leave the place she came from behind.
This book was a real page-turner for me. It's well-written plot made me want to read just a bit more every time I picked it up. While the ending was not completely unpredictable, it leaves the reader with a feeling of closure, however dark and troubling it might be. I will probably read another of Amy Engel's books at some point, but this book was pretty dark (as the title implies), so I need to take a break and read something lighter just now. I gave this well written book 4/5 stars on Goodreads. I read it on the Kindle app on my phone. (Reader warning - there is some sex, violence and language in this book - it part of the storyline and so it is not gratuitous nor excessive, but it is there).
That's all for my September reading. I would love to hear any book recommendations you have. Let me know in the comments. Happy reading!
Until next time,
📚Deb📚
