All-Bright Court

This was a pretty good book. After a few chapters I lost the story line. But it's a good read and everyone should pick it up.

throughout the 20th century, blacks saw the northern united states as an area where they could go to be the people they couldn't be down south, under the cover of jim crow; they arrived in droves, finding work in factories, often living in tenements that were substandard, yet a far cry from the dilapidated accomodations they endured in the south. some blacks went on to live pretty good lives, others barely survived, often feeling as if they gave their soul to the devil to live like white people... connie got it right: the language, the speech, the atmosphere, the feeling of time and place black people lived. the book starts out with a monstrously good first chapter, introducing samuel as an orphan working in a resteraunt saving up enough money to go north, and the strory gets stronger from there. he goes north and sends for his bride, mary kate, who is idealistic, yet is aware of a black person's place in white society. they go on to have a family, their oldest son, mikey, turns out to be gifted and gets the chance to go to private school, but in an attempt to better himself, he loses site of his identity. samuel and mary kate are aware of this, but at the same time, they encourage him to better himself, looking to him as a ticket to a better life. it was interesting the way connie portrayed the two young black males, mikey and issac: mikey becomes educated and sophicticated and eventually becomes ashamed of his blackness, while issac, the same age as mikey, is ruined by the public school system and spirals downward into ruin. some the black people in the novel try hard to adapt to " whiteness" in order to survive. issac, in one scene cuts lawns for one of the bosses,and when he offers samuel the chance to make some extra money( their steel mill is on strike ) samuel refuses, calling issac an " uncle tom " and vows never to be " a white man's n----r. " there is another scene which mary kate is getting mikey ready for his first day at prep school; she checks to see if he is totally clean, finds out he isn't and proceeeds to scrub his body with clorox. that scene was very disturbing, just to show the lengths black people will go to keep up with whites... connie also did her homework in regards to the steelworkers and the life they lead: it's like you're working with them first hand. she also touches on quite a few other issues, most notably the racism blacks have for other races. this becomes apparent when she brings spanish characters into the all bright court. spanish people can be either black or white but are often look down on by some blacks and whites. the book reminds me of " the women of brewster place, " because of the tone and the way the chapters are set up. the writing is flawless,poetic and beautiful. in the chapter " november 22, 1963 " she talks about the kennedy assaination, but doesn't address it directly, instead she speaks through metaphors. you will never look at cotton or snakes the same way again...this book has a

this was a good book, i especially liked the family scenes between samuel and the rest of the family, they were so funny, i didn't like how mikey starting changing after going to the all white school.the only thing that i didn'tlike about this book, was that some of the chapter seemed like short stories instead of part of the novel.

This was one of the most honest protrayals of african-american life I've ever read. The characters were true to life, refreshing, and interesting. This book could not be put down! Connie Porter truly is one of the best authors around.