America a multicultural race is full of stories that emerge because of racial differences that have been continuing since the last one and a half century. Alex Kotlowitz shows us the life of two boys who are not even teenagers but are still able to understand the things that are happening around them. Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers the two brothers tell us through their life experiences the meaning of the word poverty as they lead their life with the rest of the family.
The earnings are almost non-existent and the budgets are always going sky high because of the rising prices and moreover the face racial injustice. Because of their color they are never given any rich opportunity to excel further in life. Whether it is the issue of education or job nothing is welcoming the family. Like An American Summer and The Other Side of the River this novel too depicts the era of 1987 when America was not that liberal in its thinking. The scenes, the markets and the trends everything gives us the true picture of the time that the black people can never forget because they lived it through all.
Dion Graham experiments with the accent at the start which was a terrible experiment to do but after a few chapters the listener starts feeling well once he hangs with it for a while. The pauses are almost non-existent which saves the narration from an further issue and overall it’s a good book with history knitted with it in so much accuracy that we most of the time think that we are listening to a real history book.
