Crow

Juvenile historical fiction
"The buzzard knew. He gave the first warning." The first two
sentences of Barbara Wright's Crow give a razor sharp glimpse into one
of the dilemmas faced by its protagonist, Moses. He is caught between
old ways of thinking espoused by his grandmother and new ways
championed by his father.
Boo Nanny, Moses' mother's mother, was born into slavery. Never
given the chance to read the printed word, she is an acute observer of
nature and believer in omens. She's understandably pessimistic about
race relations. Trusting a white person, in her mind, is like playing
with venemous snakes and trusting them not to bite.
Moses' father is a college educated reporter for a black daily
newspaper. He's sure racial equality will come in time. Education
and integrity are the keys to success. After all he's a duly elected
alderman.
As summer heats up racial tensions rise. Moses' father's
newspaper's editor responds in print to a speech advocating the
lynching of beasts (blacks) to protect white women's purity. Many
whites want to lynch him. Elections are coming up. Drastic measures
are being taken to scare as many blacks as possible out of voting.
Moses sees a Gatling gun wheeled into his neighborhood.
Moses' father is determined to vote. He feels passions will
cool down after the election. Boo Nanny, however, sees the worst kind
of trouble headed their way.
On a personal note, we had a really hot, humid Saturday. The hubby
took us for a ride in the truck--breeze coming through the windows,
oldies on the radio. Heavenly. I was very pleased that we got subs
and I didn't have to cook.
A great big shout out goes out to those scientists who discovered the
new particle. Talk about rock stars!
Julia Emily Hathaway

Sent from my iPod