As she relates in her fictionalized childhood memoir, Homesick, Fritz grew up in China yearning for the America she had never seen; here, 55 years after her departure at age 13, she returns—and finds, in a Hankou transformed, a few shards of her past: "China was not only part of me. . . I was part of China." What she turned up, most vividly in a playground whose benches were made of tombstones from the old foreign cemetery (where Fritz's sister had been buried), were "relics of the colonial period which," she correctly notes, "the Chinese would prefer to forget." But she was struck, too, by the discovery that the street on which she'd lived had figured in the 1911 revolution ("l had lived on a historic street and no one had ever told me"); by seeing, next to Zhou Enlai in a photograph, "the round smiling face" of a clergyman-friend of her father's. To her pleasure, the church where she had never been comfortable was now an acrobatics school ("there was only joy in the room") and the stuffy British School she'd attended was now a rest home for geologists! ("Were geologists people who became especially tired? I wondered.") Fritz has a lively historical imagination, as anyone familiar with her American-history re-creations for children well knows; she has the quality of remaining forever a child that she prizes (making telephone-contact with China-chum Andrea after publication of Homesick, she's disconcerted by this "new voice," relieved to hear "her old voice" at age 69); and she's engagingly unaffected—telling how she learned Chinese jokes in preparation for her trip, then how the jokes went off. Swatches of ancient and modern Chinese history are stitched into the narrative; and along with proclaiming both children and the elderly "the happiest people in China," Fritz makes some discreet observations about the constraints on those in between. The likeliest audience, though, consists of youngsters or adults taken with Homesick—who will share Fritz's satisfaction in her warm welcome, in no longer feeling the "outsider" and being able to call Hankou her hometown. (Below the relatively bland anecdotal/informational surface are some subtle sociocultural dynamics.)
Pub Date: April 5, 1985
ISBN: 0399211829
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1985
A compelling ode to self-resurrection and Black sisterhood that finds much-needed light in the world’s darkness.
Two acclaimed, award-winning creators team up to present this moving, introspective poetry collection celebrating the possibilities of Black girlhood complemented by atmospheric mixed-media illustrations.
Showcasing varied poetic forms such as free verse and tanka, Watson reflects on coming of age as a Black girl in a society that habitually flattens Black experiences into easily digestible stereotypes. The opening poem, “Where I’m From,” is inspired by the work of Puerto Rican writer Willie Perdomo, and it peels back the layers of Watson’s identity, creating a harmonious alchemy of personal and cultural history that incorporates familiar touchstones and inheritances like “east coast hip-hop and island tradition.” Themes of resilience and perseverance are interwoven throughout, exploring how Black girls’ existence is often a testament to survival. Some poems contemplate the trauma that results from systemic racism and misogynoir; “A Pantoum for Breonna Taylor” notes how white supremacy weaponizes the basic necessity of rest: “Breonna, who reminded us that Black women / are not even safe in our sleep.” But Watson doesn’t dwell in despair; she finds safety in the healing power of love. Other poems, including “Lessons on Being a Sky Walker,” are rallying cries, encouraging Black girls to honor their roots and cherish their versatility. Watson’s reconstructions of childhood delights and teenage wounds examine the collision of race, gender, and class. Holmes’ tender, vibrant art enhances the poems.
A compelling ode to self-resurrection and Black sisterhood that finds much-needed light in the world’s darkness. (Poetry. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
ISBN: 9780593461709
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Kokila
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
A must-read reminder that transformation is made possible through community.
Explores historical threads of race, faith, and family as they weave together in the transformation of youthful, imprisoned Malcolm Little into empowered, purpose-driven Malcolm X.
Shabazz, daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, partners with rising literary star Jackson to explore 20-something Malcolm’s growth through reading, debate, and dialogue. This dedication and rediscovery of purpose, made manifest through newfound faith, would catapult him to the global stage as the chief spokesman for the Nation of Islam under the tutelage of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Refusing to establish his transformation as the marker of an unjust prison system’s rehabilitation strategy, this fictionalized retelling spotlights the relationships, perspectives, lessons, and questions delivered by Black men imprisoned around him and the critical embrace of a family that never abandoned him. “Wake up, Malcolm” is a cue that resounds throughout, linking the familial legacy of Malcolm’s parents, who held ties to ministry and served roles in the racial uplift mission of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association. Readers will make connections to persistent injustices faced by Black communities—and the beautiful ways which, despite that terror, Black families have found to craft visions of freedom and lives of dignity and love. This novel showcases the ways that becoming is a social process requiring care, commitment, and community but is ultimately world-changing work.
A must-read reminder that transformation is made possible through community. (more information, timeline, Malcolm X’s reading list, authors’ note) (Biographical novel. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-374-31329-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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