HOMEGOING BY YAA GYASI

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Rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is what I call a solid debut! Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing was a wonderful read that spoke to my soul. Not because it was a story about slavery, necessarily, but rather one about family.

Secondary to the familial theme was the author's documentation of the African and black American cultures. Her work is proof that knowledge and maturity do not necessarily correspond with age. If this work is indicative of her budding career, I would bet she will have a long and successful one as a writer.

Homegoing is about two half-sisters born in Ghana and later separated from their homeland as a result of circumstances beyond each one's control. From the 1700s to present-day, we learn about each sister's fate and their lineage. Effia marries a British slaver while Esi becomes a slave shipped off to the U.S. From there, each chapter focuses on one person from the next generation, alternating between Effia's and Esi's respective families.

My only complaint about this novel is, because of the structure, the family tree that is printed in the front of the book is required for understanding. This might make it a little more difficult for those who choose the audio book and do not have the ability to refer back to the family tree.

The descriptive writing, the careful detail, and the honor to the culture are all factors in my rating. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I do believe we write what we know, and that is typically what resonates with us as readers too. Gyasi has done a fine job, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Recommendation: Even though this book tackles difficult topics, it does it in a way that makes it an easy read. I highly recommend it for those seeking to read about the African slave trade from a different perspective.

Until next time ... Read on!

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THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR BY NICOLA YOON

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Rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Sun is Also a Star is a young adult novel by Nicola Yoon in which the bulk of the story takes place over the course of one day. Jamaican-born, straight-laced, facts-and-figures Natasha, her parents, and brother are on the verge of deportation from the United States. On her last day in New York, she meets Korean-American, dreamer, and poet, Daniel.

Whether fate, chance, or something more, the two high schoolers who were once strangers end up spending the day together learning more about themselves, each other, and the (sometimes, harsh) realities that result from their interactions.

This was a quick read that garnered a varied emotional response from me. Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective. Intermixed with the narratives are some well-researched topics about Jamaican, Korean, and North American cultures. The author did a splendid job of taking a fairly deep topic and making it easily digestable for the intended audience. For most people, the teen years are often wrought with emotions and uncertainties of who we are and who we will become. I think Yoon did an excellent job of illustrating those feelings in her book.

Sometimes a book finds us at just the right time, and this was an uplifting book that I needed to read. It didn't hurt that I'm a sucker for romance! While this is my first read by this author, it is her second novel. Her first, Everything, Everything, is set to debut on the big screen in May of this year, starring Amandla Stenberg.

Recommendation: If you're looking for a fun read that will make you think, smile, and maybe even cry a little, this is a good selection.

Until next time ... Read on!

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MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE'S SORRY BY FREDRIK BACKMAN

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Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer) is about an almost eight-year-old girl, Elsa, who is coming to terms with several very adult things in her life including her parents' divorce, being bullied at school, and most recently, her grandmother's death and the letters she left for the girl to deliver.

Told through fairytales that her grandmother taught her throughout the years, the author let's us explore the mind of a young child and see her perspective on some pretty weighty issues. Because of this it is sometimes difficult to understand what is going on, what is reality, and what is fantasy. I think the author wrote it this way to simulate how a young child might synthesize issues of this magnitude.

The main reason that Backman is becoming one of my favorite authors is because of his beautifully constructed prose. In this review, I take a slightly different approach as I'd like to share a couple of passages that moved me and why.

Because if you have a granny, your whole life is all-inclusive (p. 45). 

This particular quote spoke to me. If you have a child (or perhaps a niece or nephew) in your life, you probably can relate. Parents give their child life and support, but grandparents give children the world. Watching the relationship between my niece and my mother blossom over the 10 years she's been in the world is pure joy. The relationship that some children are granted with their grandparents is so special, and as Backman states, all-inclusive.

Because nothing scares idiots more than a smart girl (p. 47).  

As a smart girl, myself, I know this all too well. Often times people are intimidated by the girl who is cerebral, thinking beyond what is right in front of her. No matter how far we've come as a society, the cold, hard truth is that women and girls are expected to be pretty then intellectual. When we buck the trend, it's scary. But it's, also, oh so satisfying!

"You must have done something to provoke them." As if that's how oppression works (p. 80). 

How relevant this statement is in the U.S. Many critics of the #BlackLivesMatter movement tend to place blame in the wrong places. The country is currently being led by an administration that thinks it is OK to oppress people based on religious affiliation because they might do something to harm the U.S. That's not how any of this works. I'm hopeful that, as a society, we can rise above these useless, inefficient stereotypes and see people for who they are and not what they look like.

Because all seven-year-olds deserve superheroes (p. 11). 

Absolutely, they do! All children deserve to be children. I'm thankful I was granted a full childhood where I was allowed to be exactly the age I was at any given moment. By gifting this to our own children and/or children upon who we influence, we, too, can be superheroes.

Recommendation: Thanks for indulging me in this departure from how I normally review books I read on this site. While I appreciated the overall theme of Backman's work, this was not one of my favorite books of his. The story is emotion-filled. It will make you laugh, it will make you think, and it just might make you cry. Like a steak, I found the book's topic heavy, and I had to let it rest for a little bit before fully appreciating the story. So, if you take it on, give it a few days to settle upon completion.

Until next time ... Read on!

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