Play Book Tag discussion

This review has been extremely difficult to write - and not because I didn't love it. I did. But my feelings changed about an important aspect of it over time.

The book tells the story of three characters - Joshua, an african american youth with bright possibilities, but that gets pulled into trouble on the streets. Rachel, the daughter of a Hasidic Rabbi, who secretly dreams beyond the confines of what is possible for a young hasidic girl, and Paul, a privileged Jewish kid, from a background with parents who shunned their past. The setting is Crown Heights New York, and the three main characters and families, their lives entertain throughout the book, as each deals with their conflicts and moves towards their destinies.

A book is considered historical fiction if it takes place at least 50 years before the present day, and indeed the book starts out in that time period. But as it grows toward its conclusion, it becomes apparent that the book is not just about the three characters, but about what led to the very difficult tensions and violence between the African American community and the Hasidic Jews, and the very traumatic and violent riots of 1991. The reason the book is difficult for me to review - and indeed I loved it, is because I am not proud of the way facets of my own culture behaved, and one thing I was really appreciating about the first two thirds or three fourths of the book, was how positively the Orthodox Jews were portrayed. This year, I read Disobedience, about a young gay daughter of a very observant rabbinical leader, and too, appreciated that the Orthodox were allowed to be portrayed as good people, thinking moral people, who cling to their faith and their ways, but understand that others have their paths - and ultimately love their children and others, despite that they may not think, feel, or believe, the same things. They find a way. Rachel's father and parents made me proud to be a part of this tradition, and I liked that the Orthodox were not panned here... On the other hand, there are factions of my culture historically and in the present, that are capable of great violence, and mis-perception, and misinterpretation of what God or the Torah wants and needs and expects us to do. For that, I am not proud, and am deeply sorry and grieving. And I am embarrassed that I didn't know this piece of history. Now I do.

Joshua - I'm half in love with this guy. He is passionate, and decent, and loving, and bright, moral, ethical, thinking, and is the total package. He too, had to deal with a fanatical leader on the African American side, and had to make his own decisions about what his path and destiny would be. And the three characters, they each had to find out who they were, who they would be, and find their own way. I just loved it through and through. Troubled - but yes, loved it. 4.5 stars.

Just added this to the wish list. It sounds really good.

On my list to read as well