Eve L. Ewing

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: Racism, including the n-word slur
Score: Six points out of ten.
This review can also be found on The StoryGraph.

I wanted to read this for a while after seeing the library I got this from get it a few days ago so I finally picked it up and read it. When I finished it, the only thought I had inside my head was that I felt this book was underwhelming. It could've been so much better than it is now but the numerous flaws forced me to lower the book's rating to three stars. It starts with the main character Colin Kaepernick or Colin for short as I'll call him from now on living with his adoptive (white) parents sometime in the early 2000s or something along those lines. The main point of this novel is that Colin wants to do football but has few opportunities to do so since all I could see was Colin trying to play baseball even though that isn't what he wants to do as a sport. Here's where the flaws surface, I couldn't relate to any of the characters including Colin and the rest of them whose names I forgot and I felt that the book couldn't pick a concept to focus on since it kept switching between sport and race, and let me tell you there is a lot of talk about race and the racism is everywhere. One time there was even a slur which I didn't like which slightly ruined my enjoyment of the narrative. I also wished it could've been longer, and not to mention this is similar to The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and this story could've rivalled that if it were longer. But alas, I don't have any reason to recommend this book to anyone except people who haven't heard of Colin. The last few pages weren't necessary as it felt like a promotion for Colin's activism thing. Also why did it only say it helps Black and Brown people and not Asian, Latino/a, neurodivergent people or those who have disabilities or different body types or religions?… (més)

A necessary read. Important poems do not happen in a vacuum and while these poems have the Red Summer of Chicago 1919 as the emotional, intellectual and spiritual center, these poems echo so loudly in a present when politicians create codes to minimize the pain of protesters, or create outrage over having to confront a nation's pain and especially the pain of those terrorized by racism and its offspring of violence. These are voices that could have been heard as loudly today or at any time in between.

The calm of the penultimate poem "I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store" has a way of amplifying the pain in a way that takes a true craftsperson.

'I knew him from his hat, one of those
fine porkpie numbers they used to sell
on Roosevelt Road. it had lost its feather but
he had carefully folded a dollar bill
and slid it between the ribbon and the felt
and it stood at attention. he wore his money.
upright and strong, he was already to the checkout
by the time I caught up with him. I called out his name'

Eve Ewing from 'I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store.'

A collection worth reading many times over.… (més)