Reviews

I do not read mystery genre style books often, as it’s just not my interest, and this book definitely had qualities of mystery fiction that I find hard to follow - BUT this book is amazing. It’s speculative non-fiction. Filling in the gaps and view of a case that is an absolute miscarriage of justice and really makes me wonder how Black folk in America are not angrier. Bambara’s writing is timeless, using the context of just one case where Black voices are disregarded and the value of Black lives minimised to point to the damage caused in any context by systemic oppression of a people.

Some lines are so damn poignant I had to pause and just soak them up after reading:
“Legend making was the impulse to exempt the ordinary self from responsible action” for example.

An epic read, but worth it for anyone who seeks to understand better the complexity of experience in America.

aimeedarsreads's review against another edition

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3.0

bambara, toni cade - these bones are not my child

Toni Cade Bambara sets These Bones are Not My Child against the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979-1980 during which an unknown number of mostly black children but some adults went missing or were murdered. Bambara spent over a decade researching the topic while writing the book which was edited by Toni Morrison and published posthumously.

The book begins with Zala Spencer anxiously and angrily awaiting her child, twelve-year-old Sonny, to arrive home. She calls 911--who says the situation isn’t an emergency--but finally gets two officers to come to the house, though they are sure Sonny is off voluntarily. Zala visits the Missing Persons Youth Division but is similarly dismissed, with their questions suggesting that her status as a single mother with three jobs might be to blame and finally convincing her that Sonny is with his father, though she is having a difficult time tracking Spence, his father, a limo driver, down. When she finally hears that he will be at the Perimeter Mall JCPenney, she rushes to meet him, expecting to see Sonny with him. Only traveling with his paid customers, Zala breaks down.

Zala falls apart, unable to care for her younger children, Kofi and Kenti, and neglects basic chores, failing to buy light bulbs for example, so shifts her one remaining bulb from room to room. Kofi and Kenti try to adjust to their brother’s absence and their mother’s distance. Over the course of the book, Zala develops into an activist, developing the voice she didn’t have to advocate for Sonny when he first went missing.

Although there are beautiful passages, the book as a whole, as might be expected from the subject, is bleak, though I knew little about the Atlanta Child Murders and thought learning about them was valuable. The parents (mostly mothers) of the missing and murdered created a group to advocate for their children which forced the city to create a task force which was often blundering and ineffective. Because of long-standing inequalities in the city, though they were in the majority, black families had difficulty accessing the halls of power. And with Maynard Jackson as the first black mayor, many did not want the families to be vocal about their dissatisfaction since it might embarass or discredit his administration.

If the book had retained a narrow focus on Sonny’s disappearance and the investigation, it would have been an excellent novel. Unfortunately, it drifts and meanders addressing the plight of Vietnam veterans for example, a topic which is very worthy of discussion but dilutes the focus of this particular book. Additionally, the book devotes pages to minute details of a less important scene but passes over major incidents such as how two characters who were so estranged one was suing the other reconciled.

Such, I suppose, is the challenge of publishing a book posthumously. It’s impossible to know how the author would have edited or changed the book before publication.

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teresareads's review against another edition

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I love the idea of this book, and the writing is often remarkable. It's disheartening to know how many of the concerns raised here, about the way the system treats Black families, for example, haven't changed much since the events of the book or since the book was written. Seeing what the family at the center of the book went through as they tried to get help finding their son was truly wrenching and it provides an important perspective on so many child endangerment stories.

But I've read 250 pages, and I'm sorry to say that it's getting to be a slog. I suspect part of the problem is my own attention span as I'm reading in September 2020 when the world seems to be on fire. I've been able to read challenging books and long books, but books that are long and challenging may just be too much right now. But I also wonder if the story really needs 600-plus pages to be told well.

wannabemensch's review against another edition

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2.0

I'm having hard time with this, but I think it'll be worth it in the end. Just not right now. I'm setting it down for a bit.

2000ace's review against another edition

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4.0

There is no doubt that this is a hard book to read. It takes place in Atlanta during the time of the Atlanta Child Murders. I guess I like this book more than most people, because I feel that Bambara did a good job of capturing the fear and tumult that Atlanta experienced. I still have my "Save the Children" button, that many people took to wearing as some sign of solidarity during those traumatic times. It didn't matter, though, we were all looking at each other with wary eyes. Bambara also depicted life on ghetto streets, where children were no longer allowed to play or go to the store alone, with gripping accuracy. The abduction of their child is every parent's greatest fear, and to have so many young bodies found thrown off bridges or covered by leaves in the woods tore Atlanta in two. I truly believe this is book is worth reading.

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