Reviews

When I watched, Remember the Titans, some comments in there made me aware of the fact that some African Americans were not happy with desegregation. Then, I read a book about school closures in Chicago in the black and brown communities, which opened my eyes further. This was not what we were taught in school, which was everyone wanted it except for angry white people. And this book really showed the arguments on both sides in great detail, which helped me understand and something that I really loved to read. I totally got what both sides were saying and it did make sense from the different perspectives.

This book was beautifully written and I loved the characters and how they dealt with many different situations. I was so nervous as soon as the Fitzhughs came into the story. I was basically nervous reading this book not knowing what was going to happen in their town.

My only gripes were that there was some repetitive information and the ending. Maybe it's because I just watched a movie that literally ended with nothing, no conclusion, no anything, ironically called, How It Ends, which annoyed me to my every ounce of my soul. Then, I read this ending, which does have more of a conclusion, but I wanted to know what happened with the potential new vote. Maybe I wasn't ready to end. Anyways, I didn't like it all that much.

However, I loved this book and I loved the story and setting. I highly recommend this book. I hate ambiguous endings and if you are okay with it, it won't bother you at all.

azc's review

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emotional hopeful informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

jahncie's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

weavedreamer's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

ayanacole3's review

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

twotoes's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Minnicks uses colorful language to describe most everything about New Jessup but at times I felt it was a bit too wordy. The setup provokes interesting thoughts about the meaning of equality. I listened to this and was surprised that the ending approached so quickly. I'm not sure what I was expecting to happen in the end but it didn't match the rest of the book for me.

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