I started my book review blog in 2009 and I have read so many outstanding books that I wanted to share them again with my followers on #SegueSaturday.  I first posted this review in July 2010. It is an unforgettable memoir.

Enjoy!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Ms. Kersh shares her memories, including those of the historical figures who inspired her– Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr.–all from a child’s perspective. Kersh spent many of her days fending off the Ku Klux Klan, questioning authority, and avoiding her mother’s heavy hand, but she still managed to remain compassionate and determined. Kersh’s father, born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the birthplace of the blues, was the son of a German sheriff who had a black mistress. The harsh reality of racism first hit Hoy when her grandfather was murdered because of their relationship. The Klan drove Kersh’s family out of town, forcing them into Mobile, Alabama, where Hoy spent the remainder of her childhood.

MY REVIEW

There is a hardness to life that I couldn’t understand. ~Hoy Kersh

Ms. Kersh’s wonderful prose brings me back to the first time I read Harper Lee’s, “To Kill a Mockingbird”.  Her descriptions of her family, her surroundings, and growing up in the tumultuous South make you feel like you were right there beside her.  From her days in Catholic school to her grandmother’s strong presence to the civil rights movement, this book is Ms. Hersh’s journey toward a new life.

Thank you to Ms. Kersh and PR by the Book for giving me the opportunity to review this book without expectation of a positive review.

BUY THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author Hoy Kersh gives readers a unique picture of the sorrows and joys of growing up on a dirt road in the Jim Crow South in the 1940s and early 1950s, prior to the Civil Rights Movement.

Kersh s father, born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, birthplace of the blues, was the son of a German sheriff who had a black mistress. The harsh reality of racism first hit Hoy when her grandfather was murdered because of their relationship. The Klan drove Kersh s family out of town, forcing them into Mobile, Alabama, where Hoy spent the remainder of her childhood.