Choice Review

Fairbanks's book is an example of narrative history at its best. The people described--relatives, friends, teachers--come to life as do the places and events. Fairbanks writes of Rondo Avenue, the main street running through the center of the black community. Divided into Deep Rondo (poorest), Oatmeal Hill (wealthiest) and the middle section, where she lived, it was a vibrant community until freeway construction destroyed it in the late 1950s. Fairbanks also describes a visit to Macon, Georgia, to visit relatives and tells how it was possible for a black child to be shielded from the abuses of segregation. There are poignant anecdotes of coming to understand what being black in America meant in the days before the civil rights revolution, and stories of courage and heroism. Despite the fact that this reviewer is white and grew up in the 1950s and '60s, Fairbanks brought memories of his own youth flooding back. Must reading for anyone wanting a clearer understanding of the history of race relations. All libraries. D. R. Jamieson Ashland College