Not An Easy Win

Juvenile fiction 

     Awhile back we discovered Chrystal D. Giles when we looked at her debut novel, Take Back the Block.  I hoped it wasn't a one off.  I'm happy to say that she came up with her sophomore novel--during the pandemic, no less.  Not An Easy Win nicely lives up to the promise shown in Take Back the Block.

     Lawrence, Giles' protagonist, 12, is getting expelled from school when we meet up with him.  He's gotten in too many fights.  Never mind that he didn't start them.  

     " I'd tried to get Ma to transfer me to another school after the last fight.  Andrew Jackson Middle School was no place for me.  I never fit in here, and I never would."

     In addition to being Black in a majority white school, Lawrence has a lot more going against him.  His father is in prison.  He, his mother, and his sister have lost their home and have had to move into a tiny house (two cousins also live there during the school week) with his strict, fundamentalist grandmother.

     So now Lawrence has to keep up with school work remotely.  His grandmother won't let him stay home all day.  What is he to do?

     Luckily a retired neighbor is involved with a local recreation center.  Helping him out is a lot better than being on his own or stuck with Grammy Dearest.  He begins to make friends with some of the kids who come in after school.  Chess is popular there.  Kids are prepping for a tournament.  

     Lawrence decides that he wants to be one of the three kids who get to represent the center.  But it's going to take a lot of work to make that happen.

     Like Lawrence, Giles grew up in a multigenerational home with an often imprisoned parent missing.  

     "Getting to know Lawrence brought back moments of embarrassment and shame from my own early life.  As a young person, I couldn't quite articulate what was happening, and I never felt comfortable discussing my feelings.  In part, I wrote this story for young readers who feel invisible or who are holding on to things that bring them shame, because that was me too."

     I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

On a purrrsonal note, children (and adults too for that matter) can be cruel and sense which peers are most vulnerable.  After surviving spinal meningitis Harriet came home so severely brain damaged she had to relearn the basics like self feeding and dressing.  Dad thought we should just make her a ward of the state.  Because she wasn't "born that way" Mom was sure she'd make a full recovery.  She was still envisioning college and law school.  So she sent her back to public school where other kids quickly learned what to say to get her to strike out and get punished both at school and at home.  When my kids were in school there were kids from wealthier neighborhoods who knew how to get some of the trailer park kids in trouble that way.  Zero tolerance policies make this worse while preventing legal liability on the school's part and helping get rid of the kids who usually don't score well on the all important standardized tests.  I'm not just blowing smoke here.  In my school committee days I went to lawyer led state level conference workshops on bullying that were all cover your ass strategies.

Jules Hathaway 

     

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