The Twelve Tribes of Hattie (Oprah's Book Club 2.0)
by Ayana Mathis (Goodreads Author)
by Ayana Mathis (Goodreads Author)
I may upgrade this to 5 stars/amazing. . . but I just finished it and am still ruminating. Lots of good stuff here:
--really interesting links to Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. Weird little echoes and bits of info that link the two. Hmmmm, says the teacher in me!
--Mathis has a wonderful writing voice. Even when she's just regular, she's interesting and smart; when she pulls out the stops, she's amazing!
--The chapters are almost like individual short stories, and it's fascinating to see how the backdrop and expectations change for each of Hattie's children as time goes on. The first loss was devastating to read about, and the long spiral of how that loss affected Hattie and family throughout the book was the backbone of the story. I didn't have that "awwww. . . " feeling when each new chapter started that some many-voiced stories provoke. I think my favorite was Bell's and my least favorite was Cassie's ? or maybe Franklin's, but each one had a voice and a personality that made it unique.
--The conclusion: hmmmmmm. VERY interesting. Gutsy. Worth discussing.
So happy our library had it!
--really interesting links to Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison. Weird little echoes and bits of info that link the two. Hmmmm, says the teacher in me!
--Mathis has a wonderful writing voice. Even when she's just regular, she's interesting and smart; when she pulls out the stops, she's amazing!
--The chapters are almost like individual short stories, and it's fascinating to see how the backdrop and expectations change for each of Hattie's children as time goes on. The first loss was devastating to read about, and the long spiral of how that loss affected Hattie and family throughout the book was the backbone of the story. I didn't have that "awwww. . . " feeling when each new chapter started that some many-voiced stories provoke. I think my favorite was Bell's and my least favorite was Cassie's ? or maybe Franklin's, but each one had a voice and a personality that made it unique.
--The conclusion: hmmmmmm. VERY interesting. Gutsy. Worth discussing.
So happy our library had it!
No comments:
Post a Comment