This is a very timely and "important" work. Also very disturbing, but with beautifullly written passages and descriptions....of some pretty brutal truths about life in America. From Library Website
An intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle,
Sing, Unburied, Sing journeys through Mississippi's past and present,
examining the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the
power--and limitations--of family bonds.
Jojo is thirteen years
old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. He doesn't lack
in fathers to study, chief among them his Black grandfather, Pop. But
there are other men who complicate his understanding: his absent White
father, Michael, who is being released from prison; his absent White
grandfather, Big Joseph, who won't acknowledge his existence; and the
memories of his dead uncle, Given, who died as a teenager.
His
mother, Leonie, is an inconsistent presence in his and his toddler
sister's lives. She is an imperfect mother in constant conflict with
herself and those around her. She is Black and her children's father is
White. She wants to be a better mother but can't put her children above
her own needs, especially her drug use. Simultaneously tormented and
comforted by visions of her dead brother, which only come to her when
she's high, Leonie is embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality
of her circumstances.
When the children's father is released
from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives
north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State
Penitentiary. At Parchman, there is another thirteen-year-old boy, the
ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South
with him in his wandering. He too has something to teach Jojo about
fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love.
Rich with Ward's distinctive, lyrical language, Sing, Unburied, Sing is a majestic new work and an unforgettable family story.
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