Scan barcode
A review by summerbummer
Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School by Kendra James
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
You would think a memoir about boarding school would be interesting, much less a memoir about the first African American legacy at an elite New England boarding school. Still, this book falls short in many categories.
For one, it kind of flip-flops between misadventures at boarding school and attempting to have a nuanced discussion of race and discrimination within these institutions. And I felt that the discussions the author is trying to have within this book is very surface level.
I wish we heard a bit about the experiences of James’ father regarding Taft, and I would have liked to hear about the lives of students who attend these prestigious high schools after they graduate college.
Some of the references/jokes in the books are very millennial (whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you!).
This book is an accessible yet ramble-y take on institutional racism within the American school system.
For one, it kind of flip-flops between misadventures at boarding school and attempting to have a nuanced discussion of race and discrimination within these institutions. And I felt that the discussions the author is trying to have within this book is very surface level.
I wish we heard a bit about the experiences of James’ father regarding Taft, and I would have liked to hear about the lives of students who attend these prestigious high schools after they graduate college.
Some of the references/jokes in the books are very millennial (whether this is a good or bad thing is up to you!).
This book is an accessible yet ramble-y take on institutional racism within the American school system.