Review Summaries

• Readers praise the delicacy of the verse form and its ability to capture the complexity of adolescence. Frankness and sensitivity coexist, making the process of growth feel tangible.

Reviews

• Good read.

  Great sequel!

• Five Stars

  really enjoyed reading how the girls were trying to better themselves.

• What is True Believer?

  True Believer is an award winning book that many would just overlook on the library book shelves. I admit I would be one of the people to overlook this book if it were on a shelf near me. The book itself has several key points that will be great conversation starters. For those of you who have not read the book yet I'll try not to spoil it for you. The book is written in a poetic style that is easy to read and follow; so even people who do not like reading should at least try this book, it was written for you. I was not that interested till the very end of the book, but you cannot just look at your own personal preferences when you read a book. That is a very shallow understanding when it comes to reading (if you let your own personal bias or preferences get in the way of the book. The book is set in (I hate to use this word) a ghetto somewhere, and focuses on a poor mother and her daughter Verna LaVaughn. For the most part, the book is focused on the daughter and the situation at large. They live in a poor and violent neighborhood, and the two of them are struggling to get out of this situation by saving enough money for LaVaughn to go to college. Many of the parents in this neighborhood are trying desperately to send their children away from the squalor surrounding them. So if you don't consider that enough trouble already, LaVaughn has to go through the drama of high school and the life of a teenage girl (so if anybody thinks that they have it bad, think again). She has lost her father to the violence on their streets when she was just a young girl, and her mother has had to work some hard jobs just to support the both of them (while saving for LaVaughn's college fund). LaVaughn has to overcome her problems one English class at a time (for those of you who will read or have read the book you know what I mean). She is going through some very tough classes when her "potential" has been recognized by her school, and is propelled to the better classes. Verna has to deal with her extremist religious friends Myrtle and Annie throughout the story. Myrtle and Annie would probably be Verna's foil characters in this story and they are increasingly more and more hostile towards Verna because she will not conform to their religious group's standards or attend it with them. To make matters even funnier, the group is called "Cross Your Legs for Jesus", no joke! She is persecuted day in and day out by her once close childhood friends for most of the book. But since we are on such a good start of not making things worst (yes, I'm being sarcastic), LaVaughn is head over heels for this boy named Jody. I won't say how she gets a big shock, but when you find out you will be looking at the cover for some time. This book has many twists and turns with the struggles that LaVaughn faces throughout the text. It is a good read for any age, and is worth hours of discussion. It deserves the rewards that it has received (even if this book is not my normal cup of tea).

• I liked this book

  I liked this book. I really enjoyed the first one, but I love where the writer took us in this sequel. I think Virginia Wolff has a wonderful smoothness to the way she writes and it really brings me into her world with such ease. I'm excited to finish and read the final book in this series.

• Five Stars

  Book arrive in good condition

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