The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma by Alex Kotlowitz (1999)

I read There are No Children Here many years ago and came across this book at our local bookstore and was excited to reconnect with the author's work. I love real stories, especially ones like this that take on a sociological viewpoint. The author really provides a detailed look into all his characters. You learn a lot about them and it feels like you are part of Kotlowitz's interviews because of the portraits he paints. I probably ended up googling half of the people in this book to see where they are now. Very engaging and an interesting glimpse into two conflicted towns.

Eric Mcginnis' body appears in the St. Joseph River; the circumstances of his death are the purported focus of this book. The book is, in fact, a look at race relations between two very different communities: Benton Harbor (poor, black) and St. Joe (weatlhy, white). The author's research is extensive as he pursues virtually every witness, every theory, every conspiracy. At the end, however, there is the truth: no one knows what happened the night Eric died. In between, the pages paint a frightening view of race relations in the USA today. ( )

I live in St. Joseph, Michigan, so I found it enjoyable to read about the very familiar locations, businesses, people, and history in this book. On the other hand, reading this book was painful because it is so sad to realize that the conditions in Benton Harbor are still terrible today despite it being 12 years since this book was published. ( )

This book is a sociological study of race relations between two towns in SW Michigan. Having lived in St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, I know of the division that the St. Joseph River does to divide these two places. It is more of a socioeconomic division than it is a geographic division. It is clearly stated that St. Joe is a place of the "Haves," while Benton Harbor is the "Have-nots."

This book would be considered high level YA Literature. I think that this is something that I would recommend to a high school junior or senior that is looking for something that might grab their attention.

Much like the fictive story of Maniac Magee, this is a story of race relations between two separate towns divided by a river. And this book centers around a young teenage black male, who had came across the bridge into St. Joe, and was eventually murdered late that evening.

In a case that was never closed, this book investigates many possibilities of what may have happened on that fateful night in St. Joe. In the end, you are left without answers, but more questions. And you are left with your own feelings and beliefs of what might have happened. ( )