Miles 8
This was suggested to Miles and - cool note - he knows the editor. Of all places to be, meth-ridden Mississippi would not be his choice. Miles found this very powerful and was pulled in right away. The tone was fantastic and consistent throughout. A blanket of despair and poverty. Knew that nothing good was going to come of the road trip. Found the dichotomy between Jojo and Leonie fascinating. Thought the author handled the subject matter responsibly. Pointed out the theme of water throughout the book. River vs. Parchman. Jojo and Kayla hungry and thirsty the whole road trip, with Kayla unable to keep anything down. Richie seeking the cleansing water of the Gulf. Thought that Leoni and Michael's attraction to one another was fascinating and that Leoni was drawn to white race. The writing style of each character was too similar, but that was a small criticism. Miles is never too comfortable with fantasy elements, but trusted this author with them.
K'Lynn 6.75
What a beautifully written book. I loved the characters. It was sad to see Leonie live such a destructive life. But I had hope for the other characters.
Adult responsibility should not consume the life of a thirteen year old boy. Jojo, by far my favorite character, lives with his family in abject poverty. I'm glad he stopped calling Leonie Mom because she wasn't one. He has a lot on his plate. Surrogate parent to Kayla, dying grandmother, goat slaughtering. School? Too much.
The road trip to get Michael from Parchman was painful. Leonie and Misty doing meth at Al's. Kayla sick the whole time. No food/water for the kids. Then she picks some roots in the yard she think will help. I had the feeling of doom that whole trip. Then when she eats the baggie of meth, I was trying to figure out how big the bag was. Then they get charcoal to make her throw up. I thought the whole thing was going to turn out way worse than it did. When Richie shows up, I was like, 'What is this all about? ' I didn't get it. Didn't understand why Jojo saw him and Leonie didn't. What was he doing there? etc.
Weaving through the story are ghosts from the past. When Leonie gets high, her dead brother Given appears, providing comfort. Jojo channels the ghost of Richie, a young boy who served time in Parchman with Pop when Pop was wrongly accused of harboring a fugitive. And when Pop tells the story of Richie and falls to the ground, I was crying hard.
A multitude of underlying currents run through this book. The principals deal with poverty, racial profiling, lack of parenting skills, drug abuse and the supernatural. I thought his book was a rich, distinctive contribution to American literature.
Maggie 7.5
Thought the descriptions were powerful but was often confused about who was writing what chapter. Lots of sorrow throughout the book. Leoni was so in love with Michael that nothing else mattered. What was she like as a child? Was frustrated with Pop letting Leoni get away with stuff. Loved Jojo's voice. Thought that perhaps Mam's drawn out disease and having already lost one child might explain the tolerance of Leoni. Felt physically sick when they were pulled over by cops. Liked Given, but found the presence of ghosts overall confusing.
Becky 8
It took awhile for Becky to figure out the relationships. She liked the writing and thought the language was super vivid. Right away we are met with the killing of goat and smell of blood. We learn the importance of wearing shoes so you don't get worms. It was difficult to give Leoni the benefit of doubt. Loved the characters and relationships, especially between Pap and Jojo. The story was sad and tragic. Kept waiting for next shoe to drop and thought for sure that someone would die on the road trip. Mam's death scene was chaotic with too much going on. Found it interesting that there was no real community for them to interact with. No church family or neighbors or extended family. Just them.
Sandy 4.5 - 5
Thought this was similar to the author's other work Salvage the Bones which was better written. Does not like dark depressing books and this started right off with the death of a goat. Ugh. Thought the different narratives made story overall disjointed. Doesn't mind jumping from character to character but thought Leoni's voice changed which drove her crazy. Leoni would sound one minute like a well-educated poet, then drop into vernacular, "I ain't gonna . . ." which she found inconsistent. The tension on the road trip was well done. Could see how the cop would do what he did. Figured Kayla would die. Jojo was insightful. Pop was sweet and kind to him and the only adult he got any love from. Given - Oh God! - Okay. Could stomach him because Leoni saw him only with drug enhancements. But there were no drugs involved with Richie's appearance so she had a hard time with him showing up. Acknowledged that the following sounds awful, but thought the book would have been more interesting had Kayla died during the road trip. The revelation of how Richie died was the best part of the book. This story was heartbreaking, depressing, dark, and unexpected.
Thought this was similar to the author's other work Salvage the Bones which was better written. Does not like dark depressing books and this started right off with the death of a goat. Ugh. Thought the different narratives made story overall disjointed. Doesn't mind jumping from character to character but thought Leoni's voice changed which drove her crazy. Leoni would sound one minute like a well-educated poet, then drop into vernacular, "I ain't gonna . . ." which she found inconsistent. The tension on the road trip was well done. Could see how the cop would do what he did. Figured Kayla would die. Jojo was insightful. Pop was sweet and kind to him and the only adult he got any love from. Given - Oh God! - Okay. Could stomach him because Leoni saw him only with drug enhancements. But there were no drugs involved with Richie's appearance so she had a hard time with him showing up. Acknowledged that the following sounds awful, but thought the book would have been more interesting had Kayla died during the road trip. The revelation of how Richie died was the best part of the book. This story was heartbreaking, depressing, dark, and unexpected.
Pat 9
This book had such a fantastic atmosphere throughout. I felt trapped in the goat barn. Trapped in the backseat of the car. Trapped by the drugs, poverty, and racism. When they arrived at the crackhouse with the Pit Bull it was terrifying without a drop of supernatural. Jojo's reality was so awful that when the ghost of Richie folds himself into the car at his feet it was tame by comparison. The ghosts weren't there to spook or shock which made their presence that much more creepy. I loved it. The supernatural gets a bad rap in literature, but what a device that allows us to interact with the dead. They speak to us when we wonder what our grandma would have to say about so and so. We come up with an idea of what she would say. This just fleshes them out and lets them say it. All those ghosts stuck in the trees over the centuries with more like Richie continuing to flock there. What a powerful way of communicating all the suffering and injustice. I will read more of this author.
This book had such a fantastic atmosphere throughout. I felt trapped in the goat barn. Trapped in the backseat of the car. Trapped by the drugs, poverty, and racism. When they arrived at the crackhouse with the Pit Bull it was terrifying without a drop of supernatural. Jojo's reality was so awful that when the ghost of Richie folds himself into the car at his feet it was tame by comparison. The ghosts weren't there to spook or shock which made their presence that much more creepy. I loved it. The supernatural gets a bad rap in literature, but what a device that allows us to interact with the dead. They speak to us when we wonder what our grandma would have to say about so and so. We come up with an idea of what she would say. This just fleshes them out and lets them say it. All those ghosts stuck in the trees over the centuries with more like Richie continuing to flock there. What a powerful way of communicating all the suffering and injustice. I will read more of this author.
Lola 7.5 - 8
I found this book very compelling, intense, at times both painful and sad. On the positive side it also reinforced that love exists and can lift up in the worst of circumstances. The book vividly described smells, colors, and heat. The story was told from three perspectives (Jojo, Leonie, and Richie) I never bonded with the Leonie character, and her choices continued to infuriate me throughout the book. Her husband wasn't any better in the short time he was an active character. They both seemed so utterly pathetic and damaged. I do not understand why Leoni would not have been a stronger person being raised by Mam and Pop, though I do realize losing Given was traumatic, but then again, drug addiction can occur in the most stable of households. The author creates a window into drug addiction which is revealing and horrifying.
I think the book was powerful explaining the complexity of Leonie's inner conflict between craving love and tenderness opposed with her explosive anger and destructive tendencies. I cringed in every chapter due to something she said or did. Any book that evokes emotions so strongly means that the author is doing something right. The car ride to the prison to pick up Michael was so intense and disturbing! I felt like I was living that hell with Jojo along with the smells and color of Kayla's vomit, the attempt to create a remedy, which Jojo forced Kayla to throw up, the heat of their two bodies bound to each other for security and love, the stop to pick up drugs and the little boy who broke the TV, the shakedown by the police on the way home, the swallowing of the crystal meth, the horrid discomfort of having the plastic baggie stuck in your throat as you are trying to speak to the police, the feel of the metal handcuffs that never went way for poor Jojo. Then the charcoal/milk cure for Leonie. I think the author did a masterful job in that section of the book.
Though we had the introduction of the specter of Given appearing to Leonie when she was on a high, that seemed fitting for a person who was out of her mind on meth. When Richie came into the picture as the black bird and then accompanied them on the way back, the story evolved into a different type of book for me and got a little weird. Though at first I actually enjoyed the Richie chapters as they provided a needed respite from Leoni, Michael, and Misty, as well as filling in more about Pop, a character I loved. Later, with the description of the water, the island, the people walking hand in hand in the little villages, it just became a little too much as well as the spirits on the tree at the very end, trying to find their song. I probably missed it but at the end, was Richie was able to the water and find the island?
The chapters about Parchman were so sad, but well described, and easy to imagine. Pop's story of Richie broke my heart, but I was dreading something that horrible. I just didn't quite visualize that it would be Pop who killed Richie. I would recommend this book.
I found this book very compelling, intense, at times both painful and sad. On the positive side it also reinforced that love exists and can lift up in the worst of circumstances. The book vividly described smells, colors, and heat. The story was told from three perspectives (Jojo, Leonie, and Richie) I never bonded with the Leonie character, and her choices continued to infuriate me throughout the book. Her husband wasn't any better in the short time he was an active character. They both seemed so utterly pathetic and damaged. I do not understand why Leoni would not have been a stronger person being raised by Mam and Pop, though I do realize losing Given was traumatic, but then again, drug addiction can occur in the most stable of households. The author creates a window into drug addiction which is revealing and horrifying.
I think the book was powerful explaining the complexity of Leonie's inner conflict between craving love and tenderness opposed with her explosive anger and destructive tendencies. I cringed in every chapter due to something she said or did. Any book that evokes emotions so strongly means that the author is doing something right. The car ride to the prison to pick up Michael was so intense and disturbing! I felt like I was living that hell with Jojo along with the smells and color of Kayla's vomit, the attempt to create a remedy, which Jojo forced Kayla to throw up, the heat of their two bodies bound to each other for security and love, the stop to pick up drugs and the little boy who broke the TV, the shakedown by the police on the way home, the swallowing of the crystal meth, the horrid discomfort of having the plastic baggie stuck in your throat as you are trying to speak to the police, the feel of the metal handcuffs that never went way for poor Jojo. Then the charcoal/milk cure for Leonie. I think the author did a masterful job in that section of the book.
Though we had the introduction of the specter of Given appearing to Leonie when she was on a high, that seemed fitting for a person who was out of her mind on meth. When Richie came into the picture as the black bird and then accompanied them on the way back, the story evolved into a different type of book for me and got a little weird. Though at first I actually enjoyed the Richie chapters as they provided a needed respite from Leoni, Michael, and Misty, as well as filling in more about Pop, a character I loved. Later, with the description of the water, the island, the people walking hand in hand in the little villages, it just became a little too much as well as the spirits on the tree at the very end, trying to find their song. I probably missed it but at the end, was Richie was able to the water and find the island?
The chapters about Parchman were so sad, but well described, and easy to imagine. Pop's story of Richie broke my heart, but I was dreading something that horrible. I just didn't quite visualize that it would be Pop who killed Richie. I would recommend this book.
Carolyn 4
Thought it was a quick read, well written, but was irritated with everyone in it. Loved the relationship between Jojo and Kayla. Besides Pop, Jojo didn't have anyone else. Jojo saw what needed to be done and did it. This was a very emotional book. Had a hard time with the chapters. Would often have to go back and check which character was writing. Thought that Pop would be disappointed with Jojo for not sticking out the goat's death, but he wasn't. Didn't like the violence to children or Leoni's irresponsible parenting. What mother refuses their children food and drink? Thought it unusual that they would stop and get drugs on the way. Was disappointed that Pop didn't up any kind of fight to prevent the road trip. He could have tried harder. When Richie first showed up . . . Okay. But when he wouldn't leave she got irritated with him and wanted him to go as Jojo already had enough to deal with. Michaels parents were awful. Didn't really enjoy this, but not so painful that I didn't get through.
Thought it was a quick read, well written, but was irritated with everyone in it. Loved the relationship between Jojo and Kayla. Besides Pop, Jojo didn't have anyone else. Jojo saw what needed to be done and did it. This was a very emotional book. Had a hard time with the chapters. Would often have to go back and check which character was writing. Thought that Pop would be disappointed with Jojo for not sticking out the goat's death, but he wasn't. Didn't like the violence to children or Leoni's irresponsible parenting. What mother refuses their children food and drink? Thought it unusual that they would stop and get drugs on the way. Was disappointed that Pop didn't up any kind of fight to prevent the road trip. He could have tried harder. When Richie first showed up . . . Okay. But when he wouldn't leave she got irritated with him and wanted him to go as Jojo already had enough to deal with. Michaels parents were awful. Didn't really enjoy this, but not so painful that I didn't get through.
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