When stars rain down : a novel

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Title:

When stars rain down : a novel

Author:

Jackson-Brown, Angela, 1968- author.

ISBN:

9780785240440

Physical Description:

vi, 360 pages ; 22 cm

General Note:

"Includes discussion questions"--Page [4] of cover.

Subject Term:

Race relations -- Fiction.

African American teenagers -- Fiction.

African American women -- Fiction.

Segregation -- Fiction.

Violence -- Fiction.

Communities -- Southern States -- Fiction.

Nineteen thirties -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Southern States -- Social conditions -- 20th century -- Fiction.

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Christian fiction.

Summary:

"Opal Pruitt is just about to turn 18 in the oppressively hot summer of 1936. She works hard at her job, takes care of her beloved Granny, and dreams about boys with her cousin Lucille. The young black teenager's journey to adulthood will be forged in fire, though, as the Ku Klux Klan attacks her Colored Town neighborhood and she endures a vicious beating at the hands of an unknown white attacker. Although slavery is over, Parsons, Georgia is still starkly divided along unequal racial lines and Opal begins to fear the community's thirst for justice on her behalf could ignite a chain reaction with devastating consequences."--Provided by publisher.

Holds:

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Bayport Public Library	FICTION JAC	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Opal is an eighteen-year-old Black woman working as a housekeeper in a small Southern town in the 1930s--and then the Klan descends. A moving story that confronts America's tragic past, When Stars Rain Down is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching.

The summer of 1936 in Parsons, Georgia, is unseasonably hot, and Opal Pruitt senses a nameless storm brewing. She hopes this foreboding feeling won't overshadow her upcoming 18th birthday or the annual Founder's Day celebration in just a few weeks. She and her Grandma Birdie work as housekeepers for the white widow Miss Peggy, and Opal desperately wants some time to be young and carefree with her cousins and friends.

But when the Ku Klux Klan descends on Opal's neighborhood, the tight-knit community is shaken in every way possible. Parsons's residents--both Black and white--are forced to acknowledge the unspoken codes of conduct in their post-Reconstruction era town. To complicate matters, Opal finds herself torn between two unexpected romantic interests--the son of her pastor, Cedric Perkins, and the white grandson of the woman she works for, Jimmy Earl Ketchums.

Faced with love, loss, and a harsh awakening to an ugly world, Opal holds tight to her family and faith--and the hope for change.

"When Stars Rain Down is so powerful, timely, and compelling . . . an important and beautifully written must-read of a novel." --Silas House, author of Southernmost

2021 Langum Prize in American Historical Fiction - Finalist Stand-alone novel Includes discussion questions for book clubs

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Opal Pruitt is just about to turn 18 in the oppressively hot summer of 1936. She works hard at her job, takes care of her beloved Granny, and dreams about boys with her cousin Lucille. The young Black teenager's journey to adulthood will be forged in fire, though, when the Ku Klux Klan attacks her neighborhood and she endures a vicious beating at the hands of an unknown white attacker. Although slavery is over, Parsons, GA, is still starkly divided along unequal racial lines, and Opal begins to fear that her community's thirst for justice on her behalf could ignite a chain reaction with devastating consequences. VERDICT Jackson-Brown (House Repairs) paints a vivid picture of family and community persevering in the pressure cooker of the Deep South. Readers will be drawn to Opal's intelligent and authentic voice, as the books confronts issues of racism, injustice, and white privilege head-on. This is a powerful Own Voices contribution to the historical fiction genre, joining titles such as Alka Joshi's The Henna Artist and Kim Michele Richardson's The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek in their unflinching look at the past.--Christine Barth, Scott Cty. Lib. Syst., IA

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