Nonfiction: When Crack Was King by Donovan X. Ramsey

The title of today's book is what first caught my attention. What motivated me to actually pick it up and buy it was the description, which promised to tell the histories and experiences of four different individuals during the crack epidemic, alongside the drug's varied and intense history in this country. Donovan X. Ramsey's When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era explores exactly what happened, gives detailed accounts of the people who suffered the most, while also looking at who is responsible, and how we can stop something like this from happening again.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a nonfiction book that starts in the 1960s, during the Civil Rights Era, and when the Nixon administration made the decision to focus on how best to deal with two of its biggest enemies, which were those that were antiwar, and Black people. The book continues to move through the 70s and 80s, which saw the emergence of crack, a cheaply made and cheap to obtain drug that would tear apart many communities of color across the country. Alongside the facts, figures, and history, are the stories of four people: Elgin from Yonkers, Lennie from Los Angeles, Kurt from Baltimore, and Shawn from Newark. Not all of them were crack users, or crack dealers, but they all have intimate knowledge of how the epidemic affected their respective communities, with many of those effects hitting incredibly close to home.

My Verdict: Sure, a history lesson on the crack epidemic has the potential to be a tough (and upsetting) read. And while the addition of the personal stories makes for a nice break, while also offering much appreciated and fascinating insight, these stories also have the potential of adding to the overall distress, and despair, over such a subject. With that being said, I do not regret having chosen this book as one of my nonfiction selections for the year. Though it is a tough subject, it is also important to acknowledge what happened, how it happened, and to whom it happened. Well-researched and well-organized, this book is a thorough history of one of the nation's roughest moments, one that could easily be forgotten, and then tragically repeated.

Favorite Moment: In 1994, John Ehrlichman, counsel and assistant to the president for domestic affairs under Nixon, admitted in an interview with Harper's Magazine that they used drugs as a way to vilify Black people and disrupt their communities. Feels weird to put this down as a 'favorite' moment, but it feels oddly validating to see it printed out (again) in black and white.

Recommended Reading: I recommend Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond. 

Young Adult Fiction: Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino

During my undergraduate years, I took American Sign Language as my foreign language. One of the requirements for both ASL I and ASL II was that the students spend a certain number of hours interacting with the Deaf community in the city. I learned a lot, about both the language and the culture, but just as with any other language, it was a 'use it or lose it' situation, something that is briefly discussed in Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino. In this young adult novel, 17 year-old Lilah will get the opportunity to return to a summer camp for the deaf and blind that she used to attend as a kid. It will certainly be a summer to remember as she will do much more than simply brush up on her ASL.

The Situation: It is the end of junior year of high school, and Lilah is not exactly pleased with the direction her life has currently taken. Her grades have taken a serious dive, much to her mother's displeasure, so now there is talk of summer school, as well as more unpleasant discussions regarding Lilah's hearing loss and how she needs to advocate for herself in the classroom. Even at the end of an outing with her hearing friends, Lilah experiences listening fatigue, and getting her teachers to use the accommodations she needs is another issue she is simply sick of dealing with. There is somewhere where Lilah never felt out of place, a summer camp for the deaf and blind that she has not been to in years. So she decides to reach out and see if there is a spot for her as a junior counselor, and when she is accepted, she has no idea just how much she is going to learn.

The Problem: Lilah has a hard time fitting into the hearing world. But because she is not completely deaf, she has often experienced feelings of insecurity (as well as moments of discrimination) from the Deaf community for not being 'deaf enough.' At Camp Gray Wolf, Lilah will meet campers and counselors who are deaf, blind, hard of hearing, visually impaired, as well as counselors who are hearing and not visually impaired. She will also meet Isaac, a cute deaf counselor who seems to like Lilah as much as she likes him, but she is not sure. She is uncomfortable about her lack of knowledge of ASL, as she feels she slows conversations down, and that more than a few of the counselors are annoyed with her because of it. Lilah is glad to be at Gray Wolf, but it will be a summer of discovery, and some lessons will have to come the hard way.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult fiction novel set mostly at Camp Gray Wolf, a summer camp for the deaf and blind. Written from Lilah's point of view, the reader follows her around as she navigates her summer as the new junior counselor. Because of her hearing loss, Lilah sometimes misses what is being spoken in conversation, and therefore, so does the reader. Lilah's hearing aids do help, but they do not catch everything. Her ability to read lips also helps, but again, it is not a solution to catching 100% of what people say to her. She would love to use ASL more, but does not know it as well as she would like. Miscommunication is a common occurrence as Lilah attempts to form her own identity within the Deaf community, which is incredibly complex. 

My Verdict: From the first page, Lilah's frustration over the current situation can be clearly felt. The struggle to make sure teachers do what they are supposed to do; the difficult conversations with her mom; the stressful appointments with her audiologist - all of these things, along with a myriad of others, are a regular part of her life. Deaf culture is complex, and no one book is going to be able to spell everything out, but this book can be a start. And a fun one at that. Ultimately, Lilah is a teenage girl working at a summer camp, glad to be away from home and school for a bit, hoping to maybe have a summer romance and learn a little bit about who she is. Having hearing loss does complicate matters, but the book makes it clear that there are options, and the choice is hers, and those close to her will respect what she decides and what she needs. 

Favorite Moment: Lilah's little brother Max, who is also hard of hearing, arrives at the camp midway through the summer, and she is able to use what she has learned so far to guide him to make his own decisions. 

Favorite Character: Bobby is a senior counselor at Camp Gray Wolf and is also blind. I got excited every time he showed up on the page because of his humor and generally bright demeanor. 

Recommended Reading: I recommend Chaos Theory by Nic Stone, as well as Kids of Appetite by David Arnold. 

Historical Fiction: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

The news of another book by author James McBride made myself, and fans of his previous work, incredibly happy. The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store has come after 2020's Deacon King Kong, which was one of those books I could have read for forever. The premise of his latest book promised another look at a close-knit community, with a vast array of colorful and unforgettable characters.

The Situation: In 1972, a curious discovery is made while work is being done for a new development in the small town of Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Now, an investigation must be done to find out not only the identity of the human skeleton that was recovered, but how it got there. Over three decades earlier, a Jewish couple named Moshe and Chona Ludlow were well-known in the community of Chicken Hill. While Moshe ran a successful local theater, one of the few in the area that was open to African Americans, Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which she inherited from her retired father. Moshe would prefer to lead a quiet existence, free of trouble, but his wife insists on calling out the injustices around them and helping those in need, including a local deaf boy needing a place to hide.

The Problem: When Nate, Moshe's loyal friend and coworker, brings up a 12 year-old boy in need of sanctuary, Chona offers no objections to helping, though her husband has plenty. With both of the boy's parents gone, and an accident leaving him both deaf and unable to speak, the state is insisting that he needs to be institutionalized. Everyone around him seems to understand that the local institution is the last place anyone would want to be, and it takes an entire community, Jews and African Americans working together, to help keep him safe. But not everyone in Chicken Hill believes that what Chona is doing is right, and the same forces that wish to capture the boy are the same ones that have long worked against the African Americans and European immigrants that call the area home.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a historical fiction novel that opens in 1972, but quickly goes back even further in time to the 1920s and 30s. The setting for a story that will follow many residents of Pottstown, Pennsylvania is the small close-knit community of Chicken Hill. At the front of the story, at least in the earlier chapters, are Moshe and Chona Ludlow, a well-known Jewish couple. As the story progresses, more of the seemingly side characters begin to take center stage, specifically Nate, who works with Moshe down at the theater. Then there is Beatrice, Dodo, Addie, Fatty, Big Soap, Doc Roberts, Paper...the list goes on, as do the colorful names. Every resident of Chicken Hill must deal with the deteriorating effects of bigotry and hypocrisy, sometimes from their white neighbors, and sometimes from those they thought they could trust.

My Verdict: I will say that this story went in a direction that I was not expecting, and it takes the reader places that are not only surprising, but often terrifying, sometimes delightful, but mostly anxiety-inducing. Every plan requires the participation of several unreliable people, and everything can easily go wrong and result in a yet another win for the villains of Chicken Hill. But such is life in a too-small town where everyone knows each others business, and this includes the white supremacists and crooked officials. One thing I learned from reading McBride's previous book is that he is a writer that can be trusted. The story may be intense, but the characters are endearing and diverse...and frustrating, but they are doing their best. 

Favorite Moment: There is a moment when the Italian mother of one of the many side characters, Mrs. Carissimi, proceeds to scold her incredibly tall son, almost entirely in Italian, in front of his friends. She fears for his safety, and wants to be sure he is staying out of trouble. It is a scene full of back and forth between more than just the mother and her son, made more humorous by the size difference between the two, as well as the language barrier as the group has a hard time understanding her. 

Favorite Character: There are many to choose from here. I adore Mrs. Carissimi and her decision to have it out with her son while out in public. And Paper, which is short for Newspaper (real name Patty Millison), may be a town gossip, but she is also helpful and essential. 

Recommended Reading: Naturally, I recommend McBride's previous novel, Deacon King Kong, but I also want to recommend Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera. 

Historical Fiction: Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea

It has been a little while since this blog has looked at a book that deals with the front lines of World War II. Luis Alberto Urrea's Good Night, Irene follows a young woman who decides to give up her comfortable lifestyle in 1940s New York, along with her abusive fiancé, and enlist with the Red Cross to serve in Europe.

The Situation: It is 1943, and Irene Woodward has decided to leave it all behind, including the engagement ring. Done with waiting for her fiancé to find a reason to lose his temper again, Irene has decided to sign up to serve with the Red Cross in Europe. No one knows she is going, not even her mother, and Irene is more than a little pleased with herself at being able to pull off this disappearing act. In training, she meets Dorothy Dunford, a tall woman with a big mouth from the Midwest, who could not be more different from Irene. But the two become friends, and end up being assigned to the same vehicle as the begin their military service as Donut Dollies. Together, they will serve coffee and donuts to the men on the front lines, offering a small comfort to soldiers who are far from home.

The Problem: Serving coffee and donuts during a war may sound like a pretty sweet assignment, but it brings Irene and Dorothy to heart of the battle. Their vehicle, a Clubmobile named the Rapid City, may have been outfitted to make coffee and fry donuts, but it often ends up seeing more action than either woman had bargained for. The women will see the war up close, witness battle first hand, and even come face to face with a German soldier while he contemplates killing them both. When the war is not raging around them, both women will experience strange moments of calm and peace, some of which allow Irene to meet and fall for an American fighter pilot. If Irene does manage to survive the war and make it back to New York, she knows she will never see coffee and donuts the same way again. 

Genre, Themes, History: This is a historical fiction novel set in the early 1940s, primarily in and around France as WWII takes its toll on the country. The author used his mother's experience serving with the Red Cross as inspiration, highlighting the often over-looked contributions of women during the war. While each Clubmobile was supposed to have three women inside, Irene and Dorothy often found themselves on their own inside the Rapid City, but they make it work. Despite the circumstances, the two women figure out how to do the jobs they were trained to do; put up with the bad jokes and constant advances from the soldiers; dodge literal fire as it falls from the sky; and continue on when faced with the unimaginable horrors of war. 

My Verdict: From the beginning, the two main protagonists are set up nicely. The reader is given a thorough, but not at all drawn out backstory for both Irene and Dorothy before they ever set foot in Europe as part of the Red Cross. From there, it is a well-paced story with a balance between adventure and contemplation, with both elements sometimes taking place at the same time as bombs drop, and the women must quickly figure out their next steps. It would be easy to wonder what kind of action a 'Donut Dolly' could possibly see from the inside of a truck, while serving coffee and donuts, but Urrea answers that question through Irene and Dorothy, while painting a picture of an enduring friendship that is tested through circumstances most of us will never know.

Favorite Moment: I loved seeing the list of the Clubmobiles, all given incredibly patriotic names. There is the Rapid City, the Cheyenne, the Annapolis, the Albany, the Boise, the Atlanta, the Empire State, and the Wolverine. I have named every car I have ever owned, so this practice appeals to me. 

Favorite Character: Before she signed up to serve with the Red Cross, Dorothy had already seen enough in life to be angry with what was happening in the war. She says what she thinks, is not afraid of much, and was beyond excited to learn to drive the Rapid City and move it through the war zone that is France.   

Recommended Reading: This book has been compared to Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, and I can certainly see why. I would also recommend The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. 

Science Fiction: On Earth as It Is on Television by Emily Jane

Today's DSN was picked because of its humorous title and premise. On Earth as It Is on Television by Emily Jane promised a fun and also strange tale of human's first contact with aliens, and what that means for three seemingly unconnected people in the U.S. who have no idea how the event will change their lives.

The Situation: When an alien spaceship is seen hovering over Washington, D.C, there is naturally a range of reactions from the humans of earth. As even more spaceships appear over other cities around the world - London, Tokyo, Manila, Cairo - Blaine does his best to wrangle his semi-feral children, and keep tabs on the strange actions of his wife, while also maintaining a tenuous hold on the belief that the simplest explanation must be the correct one. On the other side of the U.S, Heather wonders what the appearance of the spaceships means for her, and if it will at least help with her feelings of being an outsider in her own family. And for Oliver, the appearance means being woken up from the catatonic state he has been in for the last two decades. 

The Problem: Some are excited about the aliens' appearance, others are scared, and more than a few are hostile. Bunker sales skyrocket - as do gun sales - and while Blaine's coworker talks of government conspiracies, his television-addicted children callously consider who they know that should be skinned alive in an attempt to see if there are aliens among them. And while his wife has always acted...different, it is clear she is now either suffering some sort of break down, or cheating on him. Oliver may now be 'awake,' but the doctors struggle to explain it, as he acknowledges that it is now time for him to move on, but move on to what exactly? All he has are pieces of what he remembers from twenty years ago, and a cat that he believes is insisting they travel west.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a science fiction novel set in the modern-day U.S. The three characters that are the main focus - Blain, Heather, and Oliver - all end up traveling away from their homes, making different journeys across the U.S. for different reasons, but all related to the sudden appearance of alien spaceships. The appearance of, and reactions to, the spaceships will remind many readers of War of the Worlds (both the book and the historical radio broadcast of 1938), as well as other stories of alien invasions from pop culture such as the television show V from the 1980s, the movie Independence Day from the 1990s, and the movie that first entered my mind, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The appearances lead to paranoia, suspicion, excitement, curiosity, fear, all of the reactions that would be expected from human beings when something strange is introduced to the world they thought they knew.

My Verdict: The initial mystery behind the appearance of the spaceships is intriguing, as is whatever is going on with Blaine's wife, and Oliver's condition. And Blaine's two children provide enough comedy relief (some of it incredibly dark and concerning) to keep readers turning the page, which proves necessary once the biggest mysteries are solved halfway through the book. For me, the more answers that are given for what is happening, the less interesting the plot became. Already more than a bit silly, the story devolves into something that is still entertaining, but with the humorous aspects overshadowing the more emotional and engaging story of Oliver's past and current journey. And I am not sure the ultimate conclusion will be worth the journey for a lot of readers.

Favorite Moment: For whatever reason, I was delighted and fascinated by Blaine's wife's obsession with and love for bacon. I mean I get it, bacon is pretty great...but still. 

Favorite Character: I was mostly interested in Oliver and what would happen to him now that he has woken up after 20 years of being mostly unresponsive. 

Recommended Reading: I recommend Walk the Vanished Earth by Erin Swan.