15 - A Credit to Your Race, by Truman Green
WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it at People's Co op Bookstore, in Vancouver
ELAPSED TIME: 1 Week
RATING: Good
This is the story of a 15-year old black kid in Surrey, BC in the 1960s. Being black and in Canada was better than being black and in the USA at that time... but that's hardly the standard by which we should measure ourselves. At best, Bill faces passive racism: teachers who think he should be good at sports and should become a teacher and go teach black kids in Alabama (to be a role model). At worst, he faces active racism: from the fairly benign jokes about sitting at the back of a bus, to his neighbor (Mr. Baker) who won't let him date 14-year old Mary Baker.
This story shows the challenge with being a clear minority, of being an outsider in a community. Interesting story, but ultimately will be quite forgettable.
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
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