Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko 278 pages

This is my first Choldenko book.  I never got around to the Al Capone series, I'm sure to my own loss.  I picked this one up after reading an interview with the author.  Something about her explanation of character development just drew me in.  I'm so glad I did read it, because this is an excellent book.  Even though it is a book for a juvenile audience, it successfully addressed racism, classism and sexism (all the bad -isms) in a realistic way.  It was never heavy-handed, but very natural.  The main character, Lizzie, is the daughter of a doctor in turn-of-the-century San Francisco.  Rumors of the plague reaching the states are running around and Chinatown is being blamed.  Lizzie is a smart, skilled girl, but being a girl, she has a lot of difficulty getting men to answer her questions.  She is determined to rescue Jing, a Chinese servant who has been with her family since before she was born, but keeps hitting walls trying to get answers or help from those around her.  I loved that the characters had some hidden qualities that weren't revealed all at once.  I also appreciate that it had a relatively unexpected ending.  Life doesn't always turn out the way we want it to, but it does have a way of resolving itself.  This book really showed the resiliency of the human spirit and I enjoyed it a lot.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler, 325 pages

This is a poignant story that weaves two story lines together.  Isabelle McAllister is an 89 year old white woman who asks her 30-something black hairdresser, Dorrie Curtis, to drive her from Texas to Ohio for a funeral. Obviously, they are also close friends.

On the road, Dorrie learns the story of Isabelle's life in the 1930s when she fell in love with a young black man.  It didn't end well.

Dorrie has her own problems and Isabelle helps her come to terms with those too on their week-long road trip.  This was a beautiful story that made me wonder why we still keep worrying about the color of other people's skin.

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, 278 pages

I eagerly awaited my turn to listen to this book and was rewarded by having it read by Reese Witherspoon, who has a wonderful southern drawl.

I really enjoyed this book.  Yes, yes, there is the controversy of Atticus.  How could Harper Lee have changed him?  Well, this book was set in the 1960s during desegregation and I think Ms. Lee did a good job of portraying how many (especially older) southern white middle class people felt at the time. 

Scout is now known as Jean Louise and has lived in New York for five years and is just as shocked as the rest of us to learn how her father feels about desegregation.  Was it really written by Harper Lee?  I don't know.  All I know is, I'm glad I read it.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride, 291 pages

It took me months to read this book because I rarely found time to sit and read.  However, that is not a reflection on the book.  It was totally engrossing every time I sat down to read it.

James McBride is one of twelve children born to Ruth McBride Jordan in the projects in New York City.

The book alternates between chapters written by James, and chapters dictated by Ruth.  When James was a child his mother never admitted to being white.  She was born an Orthodox Jew named Rachel Shilsky.  Her family left Poland and emigrated to America when she was a child.  Her father was a rabbi who also operated a general store in Virginia.  Family life was difficult.

Rachel left Virginia after high school and started life again in New York City in the early 1940s.  There she fell in love with James McBride, a black man.  She left the Jewish faith and became Ruth.  Her first husband died when she was pregnant with their eighth child (James).  A few years later she fell in love again and married Hunter Jordan, with whom she had four more children.  Hunter died when James was a teenager.

Ruth's will helped her leave her past and raise her twelve children, all of whom went to college and are successful professionals.  Ruth was a woman who never gave up or in.  I'm not doing this powerful book justice.  Read it for yourself and see.

Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler 325 pages

This was a beautiful novel.  It was recommended to me by a patron, and I owe her big for it!  The story is told in present time and flashback.  Initially we meet Dorrie, a black woman in her 30's, and Isabelle, a white woman in her late 80's.  Dorrie is Isabelle's hair stylist, but over the years they have become very good friends.  Isabelle actually feels like Dorrie is a daughter to her.  One day Isabelle asks Dorrie if she'll drive her from Texas to Ohio.  Dorrie, being a single mother and business owner, realizes that it must be very important for Isabelle to ask her to do this, so she works it out.  Along the long drive, the two women discover that they really didn't know as much about one another as they had taken for granted.  Isabelle fills Dorrie in on her youth in a very segregated town.  This book has a lot of heartache in it, but it is absolutely beautiful.  I think the only thing I didn't like about it was when the author was trying to write in Dorrie's voice. That felt a little forced at times.  I definitely recommend this book to just about anyone.  I don't usually go for this genre...whatever it may be, but I loved this book!