Author: Kalisha BuckhanonGenre: Realistic FictionPublished: 2004Personal Rating: 3.75/5Yearly Count: 135
Two Harlem teens (Antonio & Natasha) confess their love for one another, but have to correspond through letters due to Antonio's arrest.
I enjoyed meeting these two teens and thought their story was told very realistically. The dialog between them was filled with a lot of raw emotion, but bad language as well. Despite the language, I was interested in both characters - they were so well-developed and distinct. Being that they were from Harlem, there were many urban aspects to the novel. I found it to be very compelling.
*Recommended By: Eleanor at Goodreads (no review)
This was such a powerful book -- I'm not sure how the author could have told it without using strong language! -- and it just broke my heart for the lost possibilities, and the ambiguity at the end.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED Upstate...it was so raw, so real, so breath-taking...so awesome...author did a very good job of drawing the reader into the story!
ReplyDeleteEleanor ~ I agree - the language was certainly part of the culture and fit the story . . . no doubt.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what's wrong with me. Even though I thought it was really good - I didn't connect like I had hoped to. I can't put my finger on it. It's just a feeling I guess.
Yasmin ~ I really wanted to like it more. It could be that it just wasn't the best timing for me. Sometimes that happens.
Unfortunately I have kind of a foul mouth (keep it in check, though, around others), but I don't like reading it on paper. Weird, huh? So ruin the ending for me--does Antonio make it out of prison and all ends well? ;) OK, you don't have to ruin it for me...
ReplyDeleteTrish ~ You'll have to read it and find out!
ReplyDelete