Comment

Mar 29, 2020brangwinn rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Again, the question of whether a white person can write a book with the perspective of a minority. This falls short. Yes, she quotes Zadie Smith in the foreword, but the story doesn’t follow through. Perhaps before the uproar over this issue earlier in AMERICAN DIRT, I might have enjoyed this book more. The story is okay, but the characters lack depth. After reading the book, I never felt I really wanted to live in this good neighborhood. Xavier is too much of a goody-goody bi-racial boy being raised by a single mom. Juniper, his neighbor who had a purity ceremony with her father in a church ceremony at age 14, is flat. I felt I was reading a story filled with clichés about various people.