The Dry Grass of August

This book follows Jane Watts through the most difficult summer of her life. Her beloved nanny gets killed because she is black, her mother and father are constantly fighting, her aunt and uncle divorce, and to top all that off she has to face the brutality of racism. It's not all bad though, her mother shows her that women have just as much strength as men. June also realises that it is not the color of your skin that matters, it's what's in your soul that matters.

The main characters in this book are June Watts, Mary Luther, Stell Ann Watts, Leesum, Paula Watts, and Bill Watts. June is the heroine of this story. She is a deep thinker and wants to know all the family secrets, even if the knowledge will hurt her. Mary Luther is the housemaid. She is more of a mother to June then a housemaid. Stell Ann is Junes older sister. She is eminently interested in religion. She is also the one who insisted on going to the black tent meet, which is a type of makeshift church. They stay there past black curfew time, and because of this the three of them, Mary, June and Stell Ann, are walking home in the dark and mary gets snatched and killed. Leesum is Junes dashingly atractive male friend. Unfortunately it is considered inappropriate for Leesum and June to be friends because Leesum is black. Paula is Junes mother. She hadn't done a full day of work until Mary was murdered. Bill is Junes father. He is against black integration, an alcoholic, and beats June when he believes she's done something wrong, which is often. Mary is the only one who can stop butthole Bill from beating June to a bloody pulp.

I was touched by how forgiving June was. I was also impressed that June was able to make her own judgments on racism, even with a family lorded over by a racist, womanizing man. I felt that the part when June goes into her parents room to find her comic book and gets stuck under the bed while her parents have sex was uncalled for and unnecessary.

The author is implying that we should squeeze every little drop of happiness we can from life, because life is not a fairy tale, and reality hurts. Without the little drops of joy we squeeze out, life would not be worth living.

This book was hard for me to read because I had to stop and cry every few chapters. It is a lovely and touching book that I recommened for ages 15 and up due to intense violence, drug references and use, sex, and character with extreme racist tendencies. This is a must read, 8 stars!!!

#CivilRights #FamilyIssues #DomesticViolence