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martyfried's review against another edition
5.0
Allen Eskens is just amazing! I put this one off a while because I read that it was a YA title, but I never would have thought that if I didn't read it. It's probably good for young adults, though, but that doesn't mean old adults like me won't like it. It was another amazing book by a great author.
This is one of those books that manages to be both incredibly sad and incredibly uplifting all at the same time. It's a real roller coaster, with anger and admiration mixed in. It moves along a bit slowly, but you can feel the tension building up in the background, and you just know things are going to explode at some point. I'm glad I was listening to the audiobook (narrated by Kevin Stillwell, who did an excellent job), or I would have had to stop reading due to blurry type in some places.
I believe the title comes from a quote from MLK, from "Strength to Love" (1963), where he said: "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
My only complaint is that I've now read all but one of his books. I have the latest on reserve at my library, and look forward to the day my number comes up.
This is one of those books that manages to be both incredibly sad and incredibly uplifting all at the same time. It's a real roller coaster, with anger and admiration mixed in. It moves along a bit slowly, but you can feel the tension building up in the background, and you just know things are going to explode at some point. I'm glad I was listening to the audiobook (narrated by Kevin Stillwell, who did an excellent job), or I would have had to stop reading due to blurry type in some places.
I believe the title comes from a quote from MLK, from "Strength to Love" (1963), where he said: "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
My only complaint is that I've now read all but one of his books. I have the latest on reserve at my library, and look forward to the day my number comes up.
jeteitsworth's review against another edition
I wanted to like this book, but it was just too slow getting started. I kept coming back to it for a chapter and then abandoning it again for a week. I finally gave up.
bethnellvaccaro's review against another edition
4.0
I am definitely going to read the other books by Allen Eskins. I do wonder if his other books have more of a mystery (this book is never really about the murder). This is really a coming of age story that will cause you to shed a tear in a few places.
jkmagelky's review against another edition
5.0
I think this is truly one of those books where listening to the audio version was a great choice--the voice actor did a great job of painting the auditory picture surrounding Boady and his story. Listening to the forward, I was struck with the fact that Eskens started this book years before finally publishing it. This read like a perfectly steeped cup of tea--he gave the characters and plot time to age and meld and came up with a truly poignant tale. Was it somewhat predictable? Yes--there was clearly a savior-figure who needed redemption and there were clearly wrong-doers who needed punishment. However, the predictability of what was to come in the final pages did not take away from the pages in between. This was a tale that needed telling in a time that needs to hear it.
ncrabb's review against another edition
5.0
I’ve never read this author before, but I’m far from done with his books. This was compelling reading. Maybe it’s not quite Harper Lee “mockingbird” standards, but it’s way up there.
It’s 1976 as the book opens, and Eskens whisks you off to a small Missouri town—a place where civil rights laws may or may not apply. Boady Sanden is a poor, white kid who started hanging out with a bad crowd in public school. So, his mother moved him to a Catholic high school. He doesn’t fit in, but neither does the school’s only black girl, Diana. When some youthful Ku Klux Klan wannabes decide to pour chocolate pudding on her uniform at lunch, Boady trips the kid who reluctantly agreed to do the job. From that day forward, tensions build, and Boady’s life is never the same.
In a current events class, he reads a newspaper story about Lida Poe, a black woman who allegedly embezzled money from her employer and split town.
He thought little of it and the pudding incident until a black family move in across the street. This is fascinating to Boady. He assumed blacks in town stayed in the Goat Hill section. He never thought they could just live anywhere in town.
He has a wise and often sad neighbor who advises him on a variety of life issues, not the least of which is the new family. Boady’s dad died in a work accident when the boy was five, so the neighbor played a crucial part in his upbringing. His mom is painfully shy and suffers from bouts of severe depression. Boady just wants out of the small constricting town, and the day he turns 16, he’s dropping out of school and hitting the road. He has some money buried in the woods near the house, and he figures he can get an old pickup with some of it and live on the rest until he finds work. But the existence of the new family in the neighborhood changes things. Boady and Thomas become friends despite a rough start, and the friendship carries a high price. Many of the kids at St. Ignatius High School don’t like the idea of young men of different races hanging out together, and the problems mount for Boady and Thomas.
This is at once a hope-filled and heartbreaking story of racial divisions and the courage necessary to find common ground and focus on that in the spirit of love, friendship, and unity.
In addition to the racial elements here, there’s the mystery of whatever happened to Lida Poe and all that money. Boady and Thomas work toward a solution, and in so doing, they must deal with a recalcitrant sheriff.
Tensions run high at various points of this book, and I couldn’t help thinking as I read it what a splendid discussion it would make for a book club.
I loved the writing style. It drew me in and kept me reading and enthralled to the final page. The narration is excellent, too.
It’s 1976 as the book opens, and Eskens whisks you off to a small Missouri town—a place where civil rights laws may or may not apply. Boady Sanden is a poor, white kid who started hanging out with a bad crowd in public school. So, his mother moved him to a Catholic high school. He doesn’t fit in, but neither does the school’s only black girl, Diana. When some youthful Ku Klux Klan wannabes decide to pour chocolate pudding on her uniform at lunch, Boady trips the kid who reluctantly agreed to do the job. From that day forward, tensions build, and Boady’s life is never the same.
In a current events class, he reads a newspaper story about Lida Poe, a black woman who allegedly embezzled money from her employer and split town.
He thought little of it and the pudding incident until a black family move in across the street. This is fascinating to Boady. He assumed blacks in town stayed in the Goat Hill section. He never thought they could just live anywhere in town.
He has a wise and often sad neighbor who advises him on a variety of life issues, not the least of which is the new family. Boady’s dad died in a work accident when the boy was five, so the neighbor played a crucial part in his upbringing. His mom is painfully shy and suffers from bouts of severe depression. Boady just wants out of the small constricting town, and the day he turns 16, he’s dropping out of school and hitting the road. He has some money buried in the woods near the house, and he figures he can get an old pickup with some of it and live on the rest until he finds work. But the existence of the new family in the neighborhood changes things. Boady and Thomas become friends despite a rough start, and the friendship carries a high price. Many of the kids at St. Ignatius High School don’t like the idea of young men of different races hanging out together, and the problems mount for Boady and Thomas.
This is at once a hope-filled and heartbreaking story of racial divisions and the courage necessary to find common ground and focus on that in the spirit of love, friendship, and unity.
In addition to the racial elements here, there’s the mystery of whatever happened to Lida Poe and all that money. Boady and Thomas work toward a solution, and in so doing, they must deal with a recalcitrant sheriff.
Tensions run high at various points of this book, and I couldn’t help thinking as I read it what a splendid discussion it would make for a book club.
I loved the writing style. It drew me in and kept me reading and enthralled to the final page. The narration is excellent, too.
momsplans's review against another edition
5.0
This book started slow for me, but about 100 pages in, I was hooked and read it quickly. The story's narrator, Boady, finds his life in small town Missouri disrupted when he confronts the racism all around him. The year is 1976, and when a black family moves in across the street from Boady, he finds his world open up and his life in danger.
jesstele's review against another edition
5.0
Great book about racial tensions in Missouri and a teenage boy’s strength to do right.
ldcornell's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. The years he worked on this show in the depth of understanding of the characters and the craftsmanship of writing the story are evident.
The book is set about 40 years after "To Kill A Mockingbird" and 40 years before the present, and it is good to think about the lessons that are yet to be learned.
The book is set about 40 years after "To Kill A Mockingbird" and 40 years before the present, and it is good to think about the lessons that are yet to be learned.
ehartsbooks's review against another edition
4.0
I’m a big fan of coming of age stories and this is no exception. I really liked the character of 15 year old Boady- who lives in the Osarks of Missouri with his widowed mother in 1976. The story centers around a missing black woman and how Boady and his friend Thomas get involved. But the story is also about how racism is alive and well on this small town and Boady has to decide what side he sits on. I loved the character of Hoake who is the wise older man who lives next door to Boady and offers all kinds of life lessons. I really liked the story from start to finish and was invested in what happened to the characters.