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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Angel and Isaiah come from two schools of thought. Angel is wedded to the principals in her bible and the words of Booker T. Washington. Isaiah is a young revolutionary poet who constantly uses "the souls of black folk" written by W.E.B. Dubois as his measuring stick. The two are united in their love of books and eventually each other. The Tulsa, Oklahoma massacre of 1921 will force them to reevaluate their stances on progress for themselves and their community. They will also have to decide what it means to be fully human in a country where your very existence is constantly under threat.
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I struggled with this one because the subject matter is incredibly important and the book does a good job of incorporating the history of this tragic event. However, the writing style is just off. It reads like a very old-fashioned book, which might have been intentional to match the time period (though I would say it reads more like early 1900s than the 20s), but it just didn't feel like a natural way any teen would speak. I didn't really feel terribly connected to any of the characters, and Angel just seemed too good to be true.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Randi Pink's Angel of Greenwood was my first full book of 2021, and what a great way to start the year! I was thrilled to see this book, and as soon as I saw that it was historical fiction and covered the Greenwood Massacre that took place in Tulsa, OK, in 1921, I knew I wanted to read it. That event is something I personally knew very little about until well into my adult life, and I was excited to see this important and tragic US event being addressed in a young adult book. I'm so thankful to #partner NetGalley for access to the e-galley of this one in exchanged for an honest review! The book comes out on January 12th.
Right away, I loved the main characters, Angel and Isaiah. In many ways, this is a classic story of coming of age and of young love. The story is much more focused on Angel's and Isaiah's lives as teens in the booming Black metropolis of Greenwood than it is on the massacre itself, which doesn't come about until the end of the book—but there is an omnipresent sense of dread for the reader as the chapters count down to the event itself and as the community members sense a storm coming.
Angel, born to help others, is loved and admired in her community. She is always ready to lighten the burden of everyone around her, and she has a strong sense of purpose. Isaiah, on the other hand, lost his father in WWI and has spent much of his life following in the shadow of the town bully, Muggy Little, Jr. Although he has a side that people don't see, one that loves reading books and writing poetry, the perception of him is not a favorable one. However, when Angel's and Isaiah's paths collide, Isaiah finally finds the courage and desire to show his inner self to the world, and he gradually finds his way toward becoming a better person.
Another aspect of the novel I absolutely loved was the exploration of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, both as paragons and as people. Through conversations between Isaiah (a follower of Du Bois), Angel (a Washington follower), and their amazing teacher Ms. Ferris, they discuss the ideals of both thinkers and their impact on the time. Pink resists the temptation to simplify the views of either man, and through the characters' adamant adoration of each one respectively, she explores the problems of blind loyalty and the important consideration of nuance.
As the burning of Greenwood happens, Isaiah finds himself thinking of Du Bois in a moment of despair. In response to the cries of his neighbors, "Not here. Not here. Not here," he considers his own perspective:
"Of course here. If not Greenwood, where? It's textbook. Stamp out the most prosperous among us, and the rest lose hope. Eliminate the talented tenth, and there you had it, eternal servitude. Did these people not read Du Bois?"
As the events of the massacre unfurl, Isaiah and Angel each find the strength to be pillars in their community. Despite the horrifying events that occur, the love that community members have for each other helps them find a way forward after the atrocity. Although Pink addresses the massacre directly without dismissing its impact or minimizing its horror, she leaves readers with hope for the future of the Black people in the community as they rebuild their lives.
At the end of the novel, Randi Pink includes a section about the facts of the attack (as well as her acknowledgements, which are well worth reading!). She states that after a white woman (Sarah Page) screamed in an elevator while with a Black teenager (Dick Rowland), tensions between the white and Black communities mounted over several days, resulting in the burning of Greenwood:
"In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, idyllic, prosperous, exceptional Greenwood was looted and burned by white rioters. In the wake of twenty-four hours, thirty-five city blocks were charred, over eight hundred people were treated for injuries, and historians have estimated around three hundred lives were lost."
She goes on to explain that this event went largely unknown and unrecorded until 2001, when a commission in Tulsa reviewed the details of the event, finally and gradually shedding some light on the atrocity that occurred.
Right away, I loved the main characters, Angel and Isaiah. In many ways, this is a classic story of coming of age and of young love. The story is much more focused on Angel's and Isaiah's lives as teens in the booming Black metropolis of Greenwood than it is on the massacre itself, which doesn't come about until the end of the book—but there is an omnipresent sense of dread for the reader as the chapters count down to the event itself and as the community members sense a storm coming.
Angel, born to help others, is loved and admired in her community. She is always ready to lighten the burden of everyone around her, and she has a strong sense of purpose. Isaiah, on the other hand, lost his father in WWI and has spent much of his life following in the shadow of the town bully, Muggy Little, Jr. Although he has a side that people don't see, one that loves reading books and writing poetry, the perception of him is not a favorable one. However, when Angel's and Isaiah's paths collide, Isaiah finally finds the courage and desire to show his inner self to the world, and he gradually finds his way toward becoming a better person.
Another aspect of the novel I absolutely loved was the exploration of Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, both as paragons and as people. Through conversations between Isaiah (a follower of Du Bois), Angel (a Washington follower), and their amazing teacher Ms. Ferris, they discuss the ideals of both thinkers and their impact on the time. Pink resists the temptation to simplify the views of either man, and through the characters' adamant adoration of each one respectively, she explores the problems of blind loyalty and the important consideration of nuance.
As the burning of Greenwood happens, Isaiah finds himself thinking of Du Bois in a moment of despair. In response to the cries of his neighbors, "Not here. Not here. Not here," he considers his own perspective:
"Of course here. If not Greenwood, where? It's textbook. Stamp out the most prosperous among us, and the rest lose hope. Eliminate the talented tenth, and there you had it, eternal servitude. Did these people not read Du Bois?"
As the events of the massacre unfurl, Isaiah and Angel each find the strength to be pillars in their community. Despite the horrifying events that occur, the love that community members have for each other helps them find a way forward after the atrocity. Although Pink addresses the massacre directly without dismissing its impact or minimizing its horror, she leaves readers with hope for the future of the Black people in the community as they rebuild their lives.
At the end of the novel, Randi Pink includes a section about the facts of the attack (as well as her acknowledgements, which are well worth reading!). She states that after a white woman (Sarah Page) screamed in an elevator while with a Black teenager (Dick Rowland), tensions between the white and Black communities mounted over several days, resulting in the burning of Greenwood:
"In the early morning hours of June 1, 1921, idyllic, prosperous, exceptional Greenwood was looted and burned by white rioters. In the wake of twenty-four hours, thirty-five city blocks were charred, over eight hundred people were treated for injuries, and historians have estimated around three hundred lives were lost."
She goes on to explain that this event went largely unknown and unrecorded until 2001, when a commission in Tulsa reviewed the details of the event, finally and gradually shedding some light on the atrocity that occurred.
challenging
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is so infuriating. I wanted to love it so badly, and reading the author’s note and discovering that it started as one story, and then was adapted to be set during the Tulsa Race Massacre, helps me pinpoint the origin of my issues with it. My biggest issue is that the characters don’t feel like real teenagers. I understand it’s set during the 1920s and any expectation of direct similarities to when I was a teenager are foolish, but Angel and Isaiah don’t speak, or even act like teenagers by any scope of the imagination. How they speak, and their internal monologues, were my first point of frustration with this book. If this was written as an adult literary fiction novel, the language and word choice would make sense, but since this is a YA novel, it should feel authentic to the way 16 and 17-year-olds think and speak. Even the end, with Isaiah speaking with authority to a group of men who were leaders prior to the massacre, felt disconnected from reality. The author had the opportunity to create something impactful, that would highlight something that has been hidden for so long, but I think she failed to do so due to poor writing and lacklustre character development.
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
I think this book was interesting to say the least. While I was reading it I was super confused because I was more than halfway done with the book and the real conflict still hadn’t even been mentioned. Not that I minded… it was just a bit confusing. But after finishing it all I can say is i love it!! I love the characters, i love the romance (which is surprising), i love the community, and i love how this is a real event that happened. I learned so many lessons in this book. Some from the author’s made up characters and some from the Booker T. Washing and W.E.B Dubois. This book was an amazing amazing read and the perfect book at the perfect time.