My Time Among the Whites by Jennine Capó Crucet

MY TIME AMONG THE WHITES by Jennine Capó Crucet is a series of essays about the author’s Latinx experience. I have been moved by her writing in the past, particularly the difficulties of being a first generation college student which she featured in her earlier novel, Make Your Home Among Strangers. Here, she revisits some of that time and those feelings as well as writing about events like how her name was chosen and about her marriage to a white man with the difficulties of honoring both of their families’ traditions at the ceremony. Crucet also comments on the American Dream (especially as a child of Cuban immigrants), on her relationship with her father, and on wanting to be a writer and professor. These essays, which the author calls "notes from an unfinished education," will provide another perspective as we continue to work on ideas related to equity this year at school. Here are just a few examples of comments that will prompt reflection: “How many times did you see version of yourself in charge of your learning community?” and “If something feels unfair to you as a white person, it’s likely that equality is actually being achieved in that moment.” Crucet writes openly and frankly about belonging and about being viewed as different; she thereby elicits a range of emotions from humor to anger to hope. Booklist recommends MY TIME AMONG THE WHITES for teen readers, saying “Crucet's culture clash with her foreign-born parents and school experiences will resonate with young people of color.”

10/11/19 Update: Crucet's novel was assigned for Freshman classes at Georgia Southern.  Hard to believe that some students had such an extreme and negative reaction.  They need a second semester assignment - and a chance to discuss Crucet's newest work along with DiAngelo's White Fragility.

See Jane Win by Caitlin Moscatello

SEE JANE WIN by Caitlin Moscatello deals with candidates, their campaigns, and the victories for women in American politics between the Spring of 2017 and now. Moscatello, a journalist who writes frequently about gender and reproductive rights and politics, chose to profile four women: Abigail Spanberger (running for Congress in Virginia); Catalina Cruz (a Columbian-born Dreamer running for state assembly in New York); Anna Eskamani (running for state office in Florida); and London Lamar (seeking a seat in Tennessee’s state house).  In general, this is not a “how-to” book, but rather a (sometimes surprisingly dry) chronicle of events with some limited analysis that is based primarily on a string of interviews. Roughly ten percent of this text is devoted to notes and index, although it would have been helpful if Moscatello had also added contact information for the many organizations (IGNITE, Running Start, Onward Together, Emerge America, Run for Something, Latino Victory, etc.) that she mentions. I honestly thought that the presentation at our school by one of the organizers of the Woman’s March in Chicago was more impactful for students. However, SEE JANE WIN received a starred review from Kirkus and Booklist recommended it for teens, saying, “Politically engaged teens of all genders will be drawn to these inspirational women's stories and the ups and downs of running for office.”

Love and Ruin by Paula McLain

Although my personal favorite by this author is her novel called Circling the Sun about aviatrix Beryl Markham, LOVE AND RUIN by Paula McLain is another great work of historical fiction featuring a strong woman. Here, McLain has returned to exploring the life of a wife of Ernest Hemingway. Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway’s third wife, was a well-known war correspondent in her own right who landed with the troops at Omaha Beach. A decade apart in age, Hemingway and Gellhorn meet in Key West in 1936, carry on a romance in Spain during that Civil War, marry and move to Cuba in the early 1940s, and ultimately deal with the tension between Gellhorn’s pursuit of her own career versus support of her husband’s: “How, how, how can it work? … You’re the sun and I’m the moon. You’re iron and I’m steel.  We can’t bend and we can’t change.” McLain, as always, does an excellent job with both inner dialogue and descriptive prose conjuring the time period and the novel’s various settings. LOVE AND RUIN is likely to be very popular with book groups. It was chosen as a LibraryReads Selection for May and received starred reviews from both Booklist and Library Journal. Add this to your summer reading list!