Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from media Connect PR, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it
Here's another interesting ebook to add to your Mom's new ereader!
Synopsis: Keith Alexander’s mother was a Jewish woman from the Midwest who taught him early on that getting a job was not necessary. His father, a married African-American lawyer who was born in Mississippi, was cold and unapproachable. As Keith grew up, he and his sister watched their mother prove her point about making a living on the fringes of society. A single parent, Anita Alexander supported her two biracial children by stealing and forging.
The story is set in Chicago – but far from the South Side which had so many black residents that it was commonly known as Bronzeville. Keith was raised a Jew in a white, liberal community and, until he was a teenager, didn’t have relationships with any black people. He assumed that all African Americans were like his father and, understandably, was not eager to meet any others.
Considered intelligent but undisciplined by school officials, Keith nevertheless made good grades. However, by the age of eight years old, he had also become a thief. Over the next dozen years, Keith shirked opportunities in the square world, and instead tried to follow in his mother’s footsteps even as his sister, Lin, moved further away from both of them.
Eventually, Lin is accepted into the University of Chicago which leaves Keith alone with his mom. The two of them work together in schemes that range from eccentric (a castle built in their backyard and a human powered flying machine) to felonious (buying houses by giving the bank forged documents).
Then Keith falls in love and, rather than lose his future wife, he decides to go straight.
Review: I was reminded very much of Glass Castles, where you are rooting 100% for the child to be able to find 'normalcy' and rise above the hardships of his childhood. That he was able to do so, and to do it very well speaks to Keith's strength of character! There were so many obstacles and hardships, that you just can't imagine them overlapping each other. As is usually the case his sister sought a different path, and yet they both wind up finding their own way, and are strengthened by their mother's love, no matter how odd and strange it seems from the outside looking in. This was an interesting read and I recommend it for, like Glass Castles, it is a look into a world few know.
About the author:
Keith L T Alexander has taught writing at the University of Michigan. Featured in People magazine, Alexander worked as a law-breaking, bridge-climbing tour guide in cities around the world. He has an MFA in Conceptual Art from University of California at San Diego and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Alexander was appointed by Michigan Governors Engler and Granholm to the Interagency Coordinating Council for Handicapped Infants and Toddlers, of the Michigan Department of Education. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his daughter, Hannah.
Comments
Post a Comment