Reviewed by Bev Scott Do we have a class system or a caste system? When I studied sociology in college, I learned that we have a class system, and India has a rigid caste system. And, that the freedom of U.S. democracy gave opportunity for people in the lower class. They could work hard and raise themselves […]
Book Reviews
Book Review: “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett
Reviewed by Bev Scott Riveting from beginning to end, The Vanishing Half tells the story of identical twins who grow up in a small southern black community, called Mallard. Mallard is such a small town that it is not even on the map. However, it is a town founded for light-skinned African Americans. After running away together at […]
Book Review: “Girl, Woman, Other” by Bernardine Evaristo
Reviewed by Bev Scott Bernardine Evaristo writes about the African diaspora in her unique voice. Thus, she wrote this unusual novel about twelve British black women whose lives interconnect. Each chapter intensely portrays one of the women’s life stories. Plus, each chapter also introduces other women who become central characters in future chapters. The characters have […]
Book Review: “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi
Reviewed by Bev Scott I began learning to become an antiracist in the early 1970s. Living in Detroit then, I worked with a black and white team of facilitators. They were conducting antiracism workshops and education in organizations and neighborhoods. The City of Detroit still reeled from the 1967 “Rebellions.” I and other white facilitators immersed […]
Book Review: “Never Caught, the Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge” by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Reviewed by Bev Scott Erica Armstrong Dunbar utilizes the details of history to create an engaging story of the life of a runaway slave owned by Martha Washington. Betty, Ona Judge’s mother, came to Mt. Vernon as a slave, when Martha accepted the hand of George Washington to marry him as her second husband in 1759. Betty […]
Book Review: “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi
Reviewed by Bev Scott Homegoing is an amazing book! It is an incredible example of how much we can learn from well-written fiction about culture, family dynamics, human emotions, history and so much more. Author YaaGyasi tells stories drawn from the lives of two ancestral family lines beginning in Ghana in the eighteenth century. The path of […]
Book Review: “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson
Reviewed by Bev Scott Just Mercy indicts our “impartial” judicial system. It provokes us to reconsider exactly what is “just punishment” for crime. The author tells how the system often condemns the innocent, passes inhumane sentences for petty crimes and convicts suspects despite contrary evidence. For example, children as young as thirteen are condemned to […]
Book Review: “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr
Reviewed by Bev Scott All the Light We Cannot See is a beautiful, masterfully written work of historical fiction. It tells the stories of two young people, a blind French girl, Marie Laure and an orphan German boy, Werner. Marie Laure lives with her father, a master locksmith at the Museum of Natural History in Paris. […]
Book Review: “She Said – Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement” by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
Reviewed by Bev Scott In 2017 when Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey began to investigate Harvey Weinstein, women were experiencing sexual harassment, despite the laws against it. Women had achieved high-level positions and were highly educated. They had worked non-traditional jobs and broken barriers. But they also endured gropes, leers, propositions, physical advances and rape. Women […]
“Story Power, Secrets to Creating, Crafting and Telling Memorable Stories” by Kate Farrell
Reviewed by Bev Scott What is story power? The power of story is articulated in the foreword written by Susan Wittig Albert and guided by the examples, the process and the steps described by the author, Kate Farrell. Storytelling is so much apart of our lives as we share experiences, give advice and educate our children. We […]
