My daughters, Amber and Katie, and I share a fondness for scary stories. I have to admit I'm the wimp of the trio. I left the room fifteen minutes after we started watching Jeepers Creepers. And as for books, I nearly didn't make it through Kelley Armstrong's Hemlock Island.
The island in question and a house custom built on it are a wedding gift Laney received as a wedding gift from her ex husband, Kit. Only she can't afford to keep it unless she rents it out for much of the year. Only that's not going too well.j. Recent guests have found evidence of satanic rituals.
One early morning she's woken up by a call from a hysterical guest claiming that there's blood in her closet. She and her teen niece, Madison, who she's been guardian for since her sister's death, decide to investigate. At the boat launch they run into Kit, who has been informed of the situation, and Jayla, his lawyer sister. Shortly after they've arrived at the island a really unexpected duo shows up dropped off by boat: Sadie, whose friendship with Laney had ended badly and her cop brother, Garrett.
"This is a nightmare. Oh, I don't mind the ritual staging shit. That I can deal with. It's the company that makes me want to run, screaming, with Madison in tow."
Only it's too late for a return to the mainland so she start making beds.
Bad move. Investigating a noise Madison heard Laney finds a severed human hand. Kit sensibly decides to get the fuck out. But Sadie's gone missing and the only boat is gone. So they have to stick it out at least until on the mainland discovers that they're missing and sends a search party. Searching for Sadie they discover a lot of gruesome stuff, including phenomena science has no explanation for.
If you're a real hard core thriller lover you won't want to miss out on Hemlock Island. It has a strong Ray Bradbury aesthetic.
On a purrrsonal note, yesterday I missed the Orono bus and, being too stubborn to wait for the next one or abandon the mission (community garden) I started waking. Luckily I caught a ride. I'm not yet ready for 4+ miles.
A great big shout out goes out to the garden crew and our new fearless leader, Diana.
Jules Hathaway
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
Code Red (juvenile)
When I was a teen menstruation was a taboo topic. A lot of parents would probably have had less trouble describing satanic rituals than this perfectly normal bodily function. We'd tell each other good old Aunt Flo had come for a visit. An allusion to cramps got us out of gym class, no questions asked. Boys being snarky would ask us if we were on the rag. These days we've come a long way when it comes to menstrual talk. But we still have away to go. That's why books like Joy McCullough's Code Red are so refreshing and needed.
Eden, McCullough's protagonist, is mortified when her mother comes to her middle school to speak at Career Day. Her mom runs a company that makes period products. Sure enough some of her peers act quite immaturely. One boy, Graham, is quite persistent. When he gets in her face at the end of the day she pushes him to get by…
…at the same time another girl coming to her defense pulls him. When Maribel's mother shows up the principal accuses them of assaulting Graham who's been rushed off to urgent care. The principal suspends the girls for the rest of the week. Eden's mother doesn't show up. Silvia, Maribel's mother, takes the girls to the food pantry she runs, Casa Esperanza.
Eden was an Olympics bound elite gymnast until the combination of a growth spurt and a shoulder injury grounded her. Without the regimen that filled every moment of her life she feels lost.
"But gymnastics was my life for as long as I can remember, and now I have no idea what my life is."
Eden is irresistibly attracted to Maribel's lively family and Casa Esperanza which is far more than a food pantry. Unfortunately her mother decides they're a bad influence on her and forbids her to see them. But she's not about to give up such an important source of joy and meaning in her life.
With an engaging plot and characters and an introduction to the concept of period poverty Code Red will be quite an inspiration for younger social justice warriors.
On a purrrsonal note, I guess I could share two stories. The first comes from my teen years. I was on my way home wearing white pants when I unexpectedly got my period. I was, as you can probably imagine, mortified. A stranger invited me into her home. Her daughter lent me a pair of jeans to wear while she washed and dried my jeans and underwear. It was such a relief when I left their home spotless. The second comes from the Methodist phase of my adult life. The church was going to make care packages for homeless folx. We were discussing what to include. People were shocked when I suggested period products.
A great big shout out goes out to the folx who are working to end period poverty and to create products that aren't as bad for the environment as disposable pads and tampons.
Jules Hathaway
Eden, McCullough's protagonist, is mortified when her mother comes to her middle school to speak at Career Day. Her mom runs a company that makes period products. Sure enough some of her peers act quite immaturely. One boy, Graham, is quite persistent. When he gets in her face at the end of the day she pushes him to get by…
…at the same time another girl coming to her defense pulls him. When Maribel's mother shows up the principal accuses them of assaulting Graham who's been rushed off to urgent care. The principal suspends the girls for the rest of the week. Eden's mother doesn't show up. Silvia, Maribel's mother, takes the girls to the food pantry she runs, Casa Esperanza.
Eden was an Olympics bound elite gymnast until the combination of a growth spurt and a shoulder injury grounded her. Without the regimen that filled every moment of her life she feels lost.
"But gymnastics was my life for as long as I can remember, and now I have no idea what my life is."
Eden is irresistibly attracted to Maribel's lively family and Casa Esperanza which is far more than a food pantry. Unfortunately her mother decides they're a bad influence on her and forbids her to see them. But she's not about to give up such an important source of joy and meaning in her life.
With an engaging plot and characters and an introduction to the concept of period poverty Code Red will be quite an inspiration for younger social justice warriors.
On a purrrsonal note, I guess I could share two stories. The first comes from my teen years. I was on my way home wearing white pants when I unexpectedly got my period. I was, as you can probably imagine, mortified. A stranger invited me into her home. Her daughter lent me a pair of jeans to wear while she washed and dried my jeans and underwear. It was such a relief when I left their home spotless. The second comes from the Methodist phase of my adult life. The church was going to make care packages for homeless folx. We were discussing what to include. People were shocked when I suggested period products.
A great big shout out goes out to the folx who are working to end period poverty and to create products that aren't as bad for the environment as disposable pads and tampons.
Jules Hathaway
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Warrior on the Mound
"In a few hours, me and my boys, the Pender County Rangers, Are gonna do something we ought not to.
We'll skip school, sneak over the county line, and take a look at the new baseball field they built for the white boys in New Hanover County. If we stick on the back fields, no one will ever know what we're up to."
Baseball season is the perfect time to introduce younger sports fans to Sandra W. Headen's Warrior on the Mound. It makes the Jim Crow era come alive within the context of a truly engaging sports narrative.
Cato, 12, is Headen's narrator. His now deceased father, Daddy Mo, pitched for a Negro American League, the Kansas City Monarchs. He's determined to follow in his footsteps . His big brother, Isaac, is a member of the team.
When Cato and his crew see the field they are astounded. It looks like a professional diamond. After they split into two teams and play for awhile Cato sweeps the bases clean. But they have been seen trespassing. Luke, owner of the field, drops by the next morning to tell Papa V, Cato's grandfather, that the boys not only trespassed on, but vandalized the field. He demands that Cato and his best friend, Mason spend a morning working in his general store.
Luke says the two teams can have a practice together. But it quickly goes sidewise, devolving into a brawl. And it's only downhill from there as the larger community becomes involved in violence to which law enforcement turns a blind eye.
Young baseball fans will find themselves rooting for Cato and his teammates. If the book is especially effective they'll have lots of questions for the adults in their life. Headen gives not only back story, but a reading list.
On a purrrsonal note, although I don't have the patience to watch a game unless one of my kids is involved, I enjoy playing. Catcher. My best season was one in which I was the only one drinking or smoking pot. I was even hitting home runs. Even though I never attended MIT I played on one of their summer intramural teams. I biked over, eyeballed the teams, and chose one my speed. I started hanging out, commending the players on all their good moves. In a couple of innings I was on the field. I don't intend to play again. Getting hit in the head is so not a good idea and my reaction time sucks.
A great big shout out goes out to the kids playing ball this season.
Jules Hathaway
We'll skip school, sneak over the county line, and take a look at the new baseball field they built for the white boys in New Hanover County. If we stick on the back fields, no one will ever know what we're up to."
Baseball season is the perfect time to introduce younger sports fans to Sandra W. Headen's Warrior on the Mound. It makes the Jim Crow era come alive within the context of a truly engaging sports narrative.
Cato, 12, is Headen's narrator. His now deceased father, Daddy Mo, pitched for a Negro American League, the Kansas City Monarchs. He's determined to follow in his footsteps . His big brother, Isaac, is a member of the team.
When Cato and his crew see the field they are astounded. It looks like a professional diamond. After they split into two teams and play for awhile Cato sweeps the bases clean. But they have been seen trespassing. Luke, owner of the field, drops by the next morning to tell Papa V, Cato's grandfather, that the boys not only trespassed on, but vandalized the field. He demands that Cato and his best friend, Mason spend a morning working in his general store.
Luke says the two teams can have a practice together. But it quickly goes sidewise, devolving into a brawl. And it's only downhill from there as the larger community becomes involved in violence to which law enforcement turns a blind eye.
Young baseball fans will find themselves rooting for Cato and his teammates. If the book is especially effective they'll have lots of questions for the adults in their life. Headen gives not only back story, but a reading list.
On a purrrsonal note, although I don't have the patience to watch a game unless one of my kids is involved, I enjoy playing. Catcher. My best season was one in which I was the only one drinking or smoking pot. I was even hitting home runs. Even though I never attended MIT I played on one of their summer intramural teams. I biked over, eyeballed the teams, and chose one my speed. I started hanging out, commending the players on all their good moves. In a couple of innings I was on the field. I don't intend to play again. Getting hit in the head is so not a good idea and my reaction time sucks.
A great big shout out goes out to the kids playing ball this season.
Jules Hathaway
Mid-Air
I'd gotten in the habit of ordering my books through inter library loan. But last Tuesday I came in to find only four volumes waiting for me. And I sort of panicked because that wasn't enough for a whole week, especially one with a 3 day weekend that Eugene and I would spend at camp. He won't let me help with his projects. So reading is what I do there. Fortunately when I checked my own library's juvenile wing I found some really enticing volumes. Alicia D. Williams' juvenile novel in verse, Mid-Air, is one of them.
I think we can agree that the death of a best friend is one of the hardest experiences you can have at any life stage. Especially if you're there when it happens. Especially if you're left with regrets and what ifs, if you wonder if something you failed to do could have saved his life. That's the plight of Isaiah, Williams' protagonist, as he's about to finish eighth grade and make the big transition to high school.
Darius, Drew, and Isaiah were a set, spending their free time together. One day they're in a ritzy neighborhood riding bikes. Darius is about to make the first run. Drew is going to time him.
"Isaiah, you my eyes, Darius says.
No doubt. We
front hand slap, back hand slap, dap, dap, palm clasp.
And, yo, be like water, I tell him.
Always, he says."
At first everything's fine.
"And dude is going. Going! Going! GOING!"
But then a man comes out and starts yelling. Drew yells back. The man's neighbors are joining him, creating a mob scene, one from which Isaiah can't extricate himself from in time to warn Darius of the oncoming car in time.
Drew becomes withdrawn and distant. A field trip to the "monstrously huge" high school adds another source of anxiety.
"Come September,
we'll be guppies surrounded by sharks."
But that's not all that's going on in Isaiah's life. Years ago his father had caught him dancing with his mother, wearing her high heel shoes. Since then he's been trying to toughen him up. Isaiah knows he's not like the other boys. But can't people accept him for who he really is?
This engaging narrative is pitch perfect for its target audience—especially the many kids facing similar challenges.
Jules Hathaway
I think we can agree that the death of a best friend is one of the hardest experiences you can have at any life stage. Especially if you're there when it happens. Especially if you're left with regrets and what ifs, if you wonder if something you failed to do could have saved his life. That's the plight of Isaiah, Williams' protagonist, as he's about to finish eighth grade and make the big transition to high school.
Darius, Drew, and Isaiah were a set, spending their free time together. One day they're in a ritzy neighborhood riding bikes. Darius is about to make the first run. Drew is going to time him.
"Isaiah, you my eyes, Darius says.
No doubt. We
front hand slap, back hand slap, dap, dap, palm clasp.
And, yo, be like water, I tell him.
Always, he says."
At first everything's fine.
"And dude is going. Going! Going! GOING!"
But then a man comes out and starts yelling. Drew yells back. The man's neighbors are joining him, creating a mob scene, one from which Isaiah can't extricate himself from in time to warn Darius of the oncoming car in time.
Drew becomes withdrawn and distant. A field trip to the "monstrously huge" high school adds another source of anxiety.
"Come September,
we'll be guppies surrounded by sharks."
But that's not all that's going on in Isaiah's life. Years ago his father had caught him dancing with his mother, wearing her high heel shoes. Since then he's been trying to toughen him up. Isaiah knows he's not like the other boys. But can't people accept him for who he really is?
This engaging narrative is pitch perfect for its target audience—especially the many kids facing similar challenges.
Jules Hathaway
Monday, May 27, 2024
Punished For Dreaming
Well, fam, I hope you're having a super three day weekend. I just got back from camp where Eugene did all the work, leaving me free to sit on the porch in a rocking chair and read. It as a good thing I packed plenty of books because I read almost all of them. They were all winners. And now that I'm back to my on the grid home I can share them with you.
I was a parent and a school board member when no child was left behind while we were racing to the top. I was no fan of the presidentially mandated school deforms. And no, that was not a misspelling. It was a total nightmare. The schools were spending way too much time teaching to the standardized tests. Governor LePage was ranking, rewarding, and punishing schools based on the scores, conveniently forgetting (if he ever grasped the concept) that they correlate with student socioeconomic status rather teaching efficacy. Some school administrators and teachers were crossing ethical and legal lines by fixing student scores. And my peers seemed blind to the elephant in the room, the total wrongness of what was going down, as long as we were safely far enough from the bottom to not get penalized.
But even I did not realize the true depths of the evil going on until I read Dr. Bettina L. Love's Punished For Dreaming. Dr. Love is a Columbia University professor and the author of We Want To Do More Than Survive (which is now on my inter library loan borrowing list). She was named one of the Next 50 leaders who are making the world more inspired, inclusive, and compassionate in 2022 by the Kennedy Center. But before all that success she was a Black teen who was routed into shop classes and told that she was not college material when she tried to get help preparing to take the SATs. And she succeeded despite, not because of the public education system. She's one of countless Black kids whose dreams and ambitions were considered acceptable sacrifices during four decades of educational "reform".
Dr. Love traces all that mess to blinding white rage kindled by Brown v. Board of education in which the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, a prior ruling that upheld the separate but equal idea. The schools were separate all right, but anything but equal. When the robed gang said enough already a lot of whites got to raging. (And not just in the South. I personally witnessed whites in Boston screaming, swearing, and throwing stones at terrified Black children.). Some found shutting the school system down preferable to having their children in classes with Black peers. And when the robed gang followed their school integration order with one to hurry up already those whites were up In arms.
"White supremacists did not simply resist school integration—they built a profitable educational enterprise rooted in the exploitation of Black people's pursuit of education that has led to 'skewed life chances, limited access to health and education, premature death, incarceration, and impoverishment' This is the afterlife of Brown putting Black children at risk."
Dr. Love vividly describes the many evil forms this afterlife takes place. If you stick with the book, you will learn a lot about subjects such as the school to prison pipeline; the undermining of public schools by charter schools, movements like Teach Across America, and entrepreneurs; the damage done by standardized tests; and why the currently popular diversity, equity, and inclusion may be a trap. You will also learn why reform reform will never be sufficient and nothing less than abolition (accompanied by reparations) will set things straight.
If you're an educator, a school administrator, or a concerned parent you'd do well to put Punished For Dreaming on your summer reading list.
On a purrrsonal note, if you're plagued with mosquitoes as Eugene and I were up at camp you might want to try the old fashioned remedy we tried—a citronella candle we bought at a hardware store. It cut down considerably on the winged blood suckers while smelling quite pleasant.
A great big shout out goes out to all the other campers who spent the weekend in the great outdoors.
I was a parent and a school board member when no child was left behind while we were racing to the top. I was no fan of the presidentially mandated school deforms. And no, that was not a misspelling. It was a total nightmare. The schools were spending way too much time teaching to the standardized tests. Governor LePage was ranking, rewarding, and punishing schools based on the scores, conveniently forgetting (if he ever grasped the concept) that they correlate with student socioeconomic status rather teaching efficacy. Some school administrators and teachers were crossing ethical and legal lines by fixing student scores. And my peers seemed blind to the elephant in the room, the total wrongness of what was going down, as long as we were safely far enough from the bottom to not get penalized.
But even I did not realize the true depths of the evil going on until I read Dr. Bettina L. Love's Punished For Dreaming. Dr. Love is a Columbia University professor and the author of We Want To Do More Than Survive (which is now on my inter library loan borrowing list). She was named one of the Next 50 leaders who are making the world more inspired, inclusive, and compassionate in 2022 by the Kennedy Center. But before all that success she was a Black teen who was routed into shop classes and told that she was not college material when she tried to get help preparing to take the SATs. And she succeeded despite, not because of the public education system. She's one of countless Black kids whose dreams and ambitions were considered acceptable sacrifices during four decades of educational "reform".
Dr. Love traces all that mess to blinding white rage kindled by Brown v. Board of education in which the Supreme Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, a prior ruling that upheld the separate but equal idea. The schools were separate all right, but anything but equal. When the robed gang said enough already a lot of whites got to raging. (And not just in the South. I personally witnessed whites in Boston screaming, swearing, and throwing stones at terrified Black children.). Some found shutting the school system down preferable to having their children in classes with Black peers. And when the robed gang followed their school integration order with one to hurry up already those whites were up In arms.
"White supremacists did not simply resist school integration—they built a profitable educational enterprise rooted in the exploitation of Black people's pursuit of education that has led to 'skewed life chances, limited access to health and education, premature death, incarceration, and impoverishment' This is the afterlife of Brown putting Black children at risk."
Dr. Love vividly describes the many evil forms this afterlife takes place. If you stick with the book, you will learn a lot about subjects such as the school to prison pipeline; the undermining of public schools by charter schools, movements like Teach Across America, and entrepreneurs; the damage done by standardized tests; and why the currently popular diversity, equity, and inclusion may be a trap. You will also learn why reform reform will never be sufficient and nothing less than abolition (accompanied by reparations) will set things straight.
If you're an educator, a school administrator, or a concerned parent you'd do well to put Punished For Dreaming on your summer reading list.
On a purrrsonal note, if you're plagued with mosquitoes as Eugene and I were up at camp you might want to try the old fashioned remedy we tried—a citronella candle we bought at a hardware store. It cut down considerably on the winged blood suckers while smelling quite pleasant.
A great big shout out goes out to all the other campers who spent the weekend in the great outdoors.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
You Call This A Democracy? (YA)
In You Call This A Democracy? Elizabeth Rusch delivers the most succinct, engaging, and eye opening critique of America's political system. We're led to believe we have government for, of, and by the people. Don't believe that for a minute. Rusch describes eleven ways in which millions of people—particularly members of marginalized groups—are disenfranchised each and every year, for example:
*Since we have an electoral college a candidate can be elected despite losing the popular vote;
*Tactics such as closing polling places, restricting early voting, and requiring expensive and sometimes hard to procure documents as proof of identity make it impossible for a lot of people of color and poor people to vote;
and *Setting the voting age at eighteen excludes millions of people who collectively pay $700 million in taxes each year. (Wasn't taxation without representation why we divorced England in the first place?)
She enhances the engagingness of her text with vivid visuals. In her chapter on how felony convictions render over four million people unable to vote she adds a sense of perspective by showing how the United States has the highest incarceration rates in the whole world. (BTW felonies aren't limited to major stuff like murder. You can commit one by downloading a movie without paying or egging a mailbox on Halloween).
Although she deals in very inconvenient truths, Rusch does so from a perspective of optimism. She believes in the power of younger people to change what needs changing and help usher us into a space where liberty and justice for all isn't just something we rattle off when we recite the pledge of allegiance. Every chapter ends with a what you can do section. And there's a further reading listing of books and electronic sources.
I highly recommend You Call This A Democracy to its target demographics and way beyond. Rusch touches on a lot of stuff adults don't learn in high school and beyond. And it's going to take most of us to carry out the extensive reforms that need to be made.
On a purrrsonal note, I have one recommendation Rusch didn't make: run for local office like town council or school board. I served 11 years on school board that at one point was a three town consolidation and made quite a difference. School boards, BTW, could use younger members. Who would have a better grasp of a school system than someone who has experienced it from the inside?
A great big shout out goes out to the fox who are working to bring about these very necessary reforms.
Jules Hathaway
*Since we have an electoral college a candidate can be elected despite losing the popular vote;
*Tactics such as closing polling places, restricting early voting, and requiring expensive and sometimes hard to procure documents as proof of identity make it impossible for a lot of people of color and poor people to vote;
and *Setting the voting age at eighteen excludes millions of people who collectively pay $700 million in taxes each year. (Wasn't taxation without representation why we divorced England in the first place?)
She enhances the engagingness of her text with vivid visuals. In her chapter on how felony convictions render over four million people unable to vote she adds a sense of perspective by showing how the United States has the highest incarceration rates in the whole world. (BTW felonies aren't limited to major stuff like murder. You can commit one by downloading a movie without paying or egging a mailbox on Halloween).
Although she deals in very inconvenient truths, Rusch does so from a perspective of optimism. She believes in the power of younger people to change what needs changing and help usher us into a space where liberty and justice for all isn't just something we rattle off when we recite the pledge of allegiance. Every chapter ends with a what you can do section. And there's a further reading listing of books and electronic sources.
I highly recommend You Call This A Democracy to its target demographics and way beyond. Rusch touches on a lot of stuff adults don't learn in high school and beyond. And it's going to take most of us to carry out the extensive reforms that need to be made.
On a purrrsonal note, I have one recommendation Rusch didn't make: run for local office like town council or school board. I served 11 years on school board that at one point was a three town consolidation and made quite a difference. School boards, BTW, could use younger members. Who would have a better grasp of a school system than someone who has experienced it from the inside?
A great big shout out goes out to the fox who are working to bring about these very necessary reforms.
Jules Hathaway
A Great Country
It was supposed to be a relaxing evening for Priya and Ashok Shah. After immigrating to America and initially struggling to survive the have finally moved on up to an exclusive and pricey neighborhood. Older daughter, Deepa, a social activist, resents the move away from a neighborhood that gave her a sense of belonging and feels that her parents have abandoned it. Her younger sister, Maya, a high school freshman who has been befriended by a well off peer at summer sports camp is enjoying her new social world, hoping that her embarrassing family will stay out of it. Only son. Ajay, 12, immersed in robotics and attempting to build a drone, doesn't really care one way or another. Although he has never been diagnosed, he shows lots of signs of being on the autism spectrum. Priya and Ashok, confident that Deepa is taking care of her younger siblings, are at an adults only dinner at a friend's house.
They're still at the dinner when Priya gets a phone call telling her that Ajay is in police custody at the downtown county jail. He's been arrested at an airport, considerably roughed up a police officer who has him pegged as a terrorist, and thrown into the adult jail. "He destroyed the evidence and tried to run. Made furtive gestures. Resisted arrest. That's plenty guilty behavior for me." The initial charges are trespassing, arrest, and destroying evidence. But since Ajay had a drone near an airport more serious, even federal, charges may be forthcoming. His arraignment may be in two weeks.
In those two weeks the family must comply with police demands and avoid the press camped outside their door. This is made harder when an advocacy group takes on Ajay's arrest as a cause. This seriously bothers Priya who doesn't want her son and family lumped in with "those people"
Ashok and Priya have built their life around the belief that playing by the rules will protect them and assure them of success. Now that their faith has been shattered they must face a lot of difficult questions.
Meanwhile Deepa has been questioned by police about her involvement in a protest. And Maya, desperate to fit in with her new peer group, is making some decisions that could get her in deep trouble.
The characters and conflicts are well developed. Issues of racism and classism are interwoven into the narrative. Gratuitous violence and sex don't make an appearance. A Great Country is the rare adult novel as relevant and engaging as YA books. In fact, since the issues are so relevant and several of the protagonists are teenage or younger, I recommend to the YA set as well as their parents. In fact it would be a great two generation book club read.
On a purrrsonal note, it looks like Eugene and I will be up to camp this weekend. Since Eugene never lets me help with any of the work I guess I'll have to sit on the porch and read. I've made a trip to Orono Public Library to stock up.
A great big shout out goes out to you, my readers, with best wishes for a safe, fun, and relaxing three day weekend.
Jules Hathaway
They're still at the dinner when Priya gets a phone call telling her that Ajay is in police custody at the downtown county jail. He's been arrested at an airport, considerably roughed up a police officer who has him pegged as a terrorist, and thrown into the adult jail. "He destroyed the evidence and tried to run. Made furtive gestures. Resisted arrest. That's plenty guilty behavior for me." The initial charges are trespassing, arrest, and destroying evidence. But since Ajay had a drone near an airport more serious, even federal, charges may be forthcoming. His arraignment may be in two weeks.
In those two weeks the family must comply with police demands and avoid the press camped outside their door. This is made harder when an advocacy group takes on Ajay's arrest as a cause. This seriously bothers Priya who doesn't want her son and family lumped in with "those people"
Ashok and Priya have built their life around the belief that playing by the rules will protect them and assure them of success. Now that their faith has been shattered they must face a lot of difficult questions.
Meanwhile Deepa has been questioned by police about her involvement in a protest. And Maya, desperate to fit in with her new peer group, is making some decisions that could get her in deep trouble.
The characters and conflicts are well developed. Issues of racism and classism are interwoven into the narrative. Gratuitous violence and sex don't make an appearance. A Great Country is the rare adult novel as relevant and engaging as YA books. In fact, since the issues are so relevant and several of the protagonists are teenage or younger, I recommend to the YA set as well as their parents. In fact it would be a great two generation book club read.
On a purrrsonal note, it looks like Eugene and I will be up to camp this weekend. Since Eugene never lets me help with any of the work I guess I'll have to sit on the porch and read. I've made a trip to Orono Public Library to stock up.
A great big shout out goes out to you, my readers, with best wishes for a safe, fun, and relaxing three day weekend.
Jules Hathaway
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