Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Jesmyn Ward
Review by Priscilla Comen
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Jesmyn Ward
Review by Priscilla Comen
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward is a poetic picture of a low income, rural family in Mississippi. JoJo, the thirteen year old son, narrates the first chapter. He goes with his grandpa, Pop, to kill a goat for their dinner. JoJo hopes this will make him a man. Leonie, his white mother, next describes her life, her job as a waitress at a bar, her best and only friend, Misty, a white woman with whom she snorts coke. Leonie’s black husband, Michael, is due to return from prison the following week. Her brother, Given, appears before her, though he’s been dead for fifteen years. He appears only when she’s high.
Leonie goes to pick up Michael at prison when he’s released. She piles all the kids into the car, JoJo, Kayla her little girl; plus her friend Misty who visits her own husband there. JoJo looks down Misty’s blouse at her bra. He recalls when Mam, his grandma, told him about sex and condoms. He blushes at the thought. Mam has cancer and stays in bed all day. She also tells him stories about his uncle Given.
Leonie stops on the way at a friend’s house and they go inside. Boxes of food and drinks line the walls. “Business is great,” says the friend. They seem to make an exchange and we learn what they have hidden under the floor of the car. “Enough for you and Michael to buy a house,” Misty says. Author Ward helps us to feel, smell, and see what goes on in that car on the drive to the prison. JoJo’s little sister Kayla, gets very sick, and burns up with fever. She snuggles up to JoJo and he comforts her with stories.
When Michael is released, quietly, at the prison, a black boy looks into the car window. Author Ward gives him a voice. His name is Richie and he has been beaten badly at the prison, according to the story Pop had told JoJo. Richie says, “I’m going home.” We don’t know if he is real or a vision only to JoJo. He gets in the car, on the floor. Author Ward weaves the history of blacks and whites with the emotions of this family. When they stop at Michael’s parent’s house, his white father hates Leonie, and he and Michael fight. The tension is electric and they then drive to their home where Mam and Pop are waiting for them with open arms and love.
Author Ward is a courageous writer. We are grateful for her honesty, but beware of horrible scenes that might give you nightmares. Find this incredible book on the new fiction shelf of your community library.
Leonie goes to pick up Michael at prison when he’s released. She piles all the kids into the car, JoJo, Kayla her little girl; plus her friend Misty who visits her own husband there. JoJo looks down Misty’s blouse at her bra. He recalls when Mam, his grandma, told him about sex and condoms. He blushes at the thought. Mam has cancer and stays in bed all day. She also tells him stories about his uncle Given.
Leonie stops on the way at a friend’s house and they go inside. Boxes of food and drinks line the walls. “Business is great,” says the friend. They seem to make an exchange and we learn what they have hidden under the floor of the car. “Enough for you and Michael to buy a house,” Misty says. Author Ward helps us to feel, smell, and see what goes on in that car on the drive to the prison. JoJo’s little sister Kayla, gets very sick, and burns up with fever. She snuggles up to JoJo and he comforts her with stories.
When Michael is released, quietly, at the prison, a black boy looks into the car window. Author Ward gives him a voice. His name is Richie and he has been beaten badly at the prison, according to the story Pop had told JoJo. Richie says, “I’m going home.” We don’t know if he is real or a vision only to JoJo. He gets in the car, on the floor. Author Ward weaves the history of blacks and whites with the emotions of this family. When they stop at Michael’s parent’s house, his white father hates Leonie, and he and Michael fight. The tension is electric and they then drive to their home where Mam and Pop are waiting for them with open arms and love.
Author Ward is a courageous writer. We are grateful for her honesty, but beware of horrible scenes that might give you nightmares. Find this incredible book on the new fiction shelf of your community library.