The first few chapters of this book did not hold my attention. I believe it was because I had a hard time getting to know who each character was and what their role in the story would be. I was unable to put the book down after the fifth chapter, and I'm still not sure if that was because I liked reading the book or if it was because the plot continued to thicken as the story went on.
I did have a hard time relating to the story and found 99% of it very offensive and disgusting. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable asking a teen to read this as part of a literature class. However, Lester does an amazing job portraying the life of a white boy during a very difficult time in history. The imagery within the story clearly gets across the point he is trying to make and leaves you breathless.
There is a bibliography at the very end of the book that describes his life and numerous lynchings he actually witnessed as a child. It is very important for people such as Lester to write about these type of experiences so that future generations never forget the hate crimes that happen to destroy various groups of people. This book left me pondering this question, "Would I have had the courage to speak up?"
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