SSR Book Review

Needless to say that when Ms. Fletcher announced that we would be having an SSR period every Monday, I rejoiced. I hardly find time to read in my busy schedule what with being captain, practice, drum corps, being the third parent at home, school, and my youth group. However although my enthusiasm was great my memory was not. I'd forget to bring in a book to read. But that in and of itself proved to be a blessing in disguise. Leaving my own books behind allowed me to peruse through the classroom's miniature library. Through it I read three books that I may never have come across otherwise.

One of the books I picked up was Baby of the Family by Tina McElroy Ansa. Taking place in the 1950s in rural Georgia, it follows the coming of age of Lena, a girl who since the day of her birth had the ability to see ghosts and predict the future. She was born with a caul over her face that set her apart from everyone else. It made her special. Through her first friendships, her school years, the observance of her parents relationship, and learning to deal with the apparitions that only she can see, Lena changes and grows, learning about the past from the ghosts she communicates with and seeing into the future.

In the book Ansa illustrates middle-class black small town life in the 50's down in the South. The dialogue is realistic, the characters are bold and lively, and the supernatural aspect of the novel blends well with the rest of the story that is being told. This delicately comic book has great imagery throughout the storyline and the descriptions are so detailed that you can hear, see, smell, and almost even feel the objects, people, and story that Ansa is writing about.

I highly recommend this book. For those of you who are looking for something new and very different from what you're used to, I encourage you to pick up this evocative piece of realistic fiction and broaden your reading horizons. This was definitely a breath of fresh, enlightening air among the atmosphere that grows thicker and thicker with candy for the brain.