“Covin also reminds us of why it is important to tell our stories. We don’t often get the stories of Black families who owned land, raised their own livestock, and grew all the food they needed to survive. Families like the Wenders, who are the model of self-determination, are not in our history books.” (more ?)
—Dr. Brenda M. Greene, Chair of the English Department at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York.
“The opening sequence of this lovely book had me gripping the arms of my reading chair as the main character, Ruth-Ann runs for her life, chased by a wild, mean-spirited, half-mad horse. It’s a riveting sequence. There’s another, just as gripping, but I don’t want to give too much away! Raisins captures, to great effect, the day-to-day lives of African Americans in Florida, just after the dawn of the 20th century. The cumulative effect of “this life” (these lives) is that no matter what one’s accomplishments, no matter what one’s strivings and dreams, no matter what one may have done to protect one’s self and one’s family from harm, there was no protection for Black people at all. The violence of racism was so crazed, based in a jealousy so pervasive it could barely be measured. It’s a heartbreaker, but it’s our history. In the midst of this there is love.”
—Denise Nicholas, actor, playwright, novelist: author of critically acclaimed, Freshwater Road
