Just Like Martin

I know, I know, I said I wasn't gonna do book reviews. I meant it!

This is something else. It's a blog post about a book: Just Like Martin by Ossie Davis.

I've read it about six times. And when I read a book six times I'm either stumped for reading or enjoy it a lot. Or perhaps both.

I like it a lot. It's set in Alabama, 1963. It's a small town and there's this teenager, Isaac Stone, and the book is about him. He wants to be nonviolent. His mom died and his dad is really hurting about something from the Korean war. And Isaac's hero is Martin Luther King, Jr., and he really likes the speeches Martin Luther King, Jr. makes. Oh, and Isaac and his family and friends are Black.

Anyways, one day, somebody bombs the church and it kills two kids. And, anyway, well, it's hard to explain without giving it all away.

Anyways, I like this book because the characters are really interesting. They've got many layers. And when you start reading it it's like your immersed in the culture and ways of this little town. And it tells me about a time in history. I feel like I'm almost really there, invisible, able to maybe understand a little of what the people feel like.

Finally, I realize that people all over the world are alike. What made me realize this was actually the fact that the people in the town, even as they were different, were the same in so many ways. Like, there's this one woman, Big Mother, and one time Isaac's dad says, "Is there anything to eat around here," and this other guy says, "Big Mother's in the kitchen, and you know what that means." I guess they aren't exact quotes, but you get the gist of it. I know people like that :).

It's fascinating. I really recommend it. I sure hope it's in the Seattle library systems, 'cause we're returning it to Uncle John and Aunt Trish in a couple weeks.