Samia
I absolutely loved this book. Doris Steele is a 17-year-old pregnant girl in rural Georgia who had to drop out of school to care for her sick mother and essentially her whole family. She's never had any real choices for herself, but she makes do with what little she can find and her natural way with words—she's always writing down her thoughts and observations. Her voice is incredibly funny; she's so blunt in her internal monologue and almost childlike in some ways, with the fear of God and religion so deeply ingrained in her that she's completely unsettled by anything that doesn't conform to her upbringing.
This all changes during a secret trip to Atlanta with her former English teacher, Mrs. Lucas, who is originally from there. Mrs. Lucas is almost like a mother to Doris—someone she can confide in and trust because Mrs. Lucas sees Doris for her potential as more than just a homemaker, wife, or daughter. She sees her for who she truly is. Atlanta represents everything Doris's life could have been—educated college men and women, the choice of whether or not to be pregnant, the freedom to love whom you want—all set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, a transformative era in itself. Doris is thrust right into the middle of it when Mrs. Lucas takes her to Atlanta to help her get an abortion from one of her friends. This opens Doris's eyes to what queerness is, what loving or caring for a woman could mean, and exposes her to an entirely new world.
She encounters a mix of historical figures (both real and fictional) who shape her thinking as she tries to figure out what she truly wants for herself, beyond what she's grown up with in the rural South. All around her, change is happening with the movement—young people versus old—and we also see how even though the queer Black community exists, they face discrimination from their own people because they don't "live right." It's a multilayered discrimination that Black queer people endure.
I found this book deeply moving. The main character is incredibly witty and funny, and I felt so proud watching her figure out what kind of woman she wants to be through her internal thoughts as she narrates this transformative weekend in Atlanta. The city really highlights the contrast between how the world was modernizing for certain Black people while others were just getting by in small towns where change hadn't even begun to arrive.
I couldn't put it down. Not only did I love Doris, but I felt this offered such an important perspective on the era, centering around the choice—or lack thereof—that women, especially Black women, have always faced and continue to face today. I learned so much and was able to trace many elements in the book back to real historical events, which made reading this a truly enriching experience. 5/5 stars from me.
I absolutely loved this book. Doris Steele is a 17-year-old pregnant girl in rural Georgia who had to drop out of school to care for her sick mother and essentially her whole family. She's never had any real choices for herself, but she makes do with what little she can find and her natural way with words—she's always writing down her thoughts and observations. Her voice is incredibly funny; she's so blunt in her internal monologue and almost childlike in some ways, with the fear of God and religion so deeply ingrained in her that she's completely unsettled by anything that doesn't conform to her upbringing.
This all changes during a secret trip to Atlanta with her former English teacher, Mrs. Lucas, who is originally from there. Mrs. Lucas is almost like a mother to Doris—someone she can confide in and trust because Mrs. Lucas sees Doris for her potential as more than just a homemaker, wife, or daughter. She sees her for who she truly is. Atlanta represents everything Doris's life could have been—educated college men and women, the choice of whether or not to be pregnant, the freedom to love whom you want—all set against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, a transformative era in itself. Doris is thrust right into the middle of it when Mrs. Lucas takes her to Atlanta to help her get an abortion from one of her friends. This opens Doris's eyes to what queerness is, what loving or caring for a woman could mean, and exposes her to an entirely new world.
She encounters a mix of historical figures (both real and fictional) who shape her thinking as she tries to figure out what she truly wants for herself, beyond what she's grown up with in the rural South. All around her, change is happening with the movement—young people versus old—and we also see how even though the queer Black community exists, they face discrimination from their own people because they don't "live right." It's a multilayered discrimination that Black queer people endure.
I found this book deeply moving. The main character is incredibly witty and funny, and I felt so proud watching her figure out what kind of woman she wants to be through her internal thoughts as she narrates this transformative weekend in Atlanta. The city really highlights the contrast between how the world was modernizing for certain Black people while others were just getting by in small towns where change hadn't even begun to arrive.
I couldn't put it down. Not only did I love Doris, but I felt this offered such an important perspective on the era, centering around the choice—or lack thereof—that women, especially Black women, have always faced and continue to face today. I learned so much and was able to trace many elements in the book back to real historical events, which made reading this a truly enriching experience. 5/5 stars from me.