Asali Solomon

This is a fine coming-of-age story, filled with humor and twists and great characters. Kenya is the only child of Johnbrown and Sheila, living in Philadelphia with her activist parents and with the students in her school thinking she's got a weird name and she celebrates Kwanzaa, so "Ooga Booga" becomes her nickname as Kenya has a hard time finding commonality with the other fourth graders. The family's social and political life centers around a bunch of comrades calling themselves "The show more Seven Days", and Kenya loves the weekly Saturday night meetings where strategies are discussed, music played, and ideas debated. The group disbands when Kenya's father and one of the Days become romantically involved and Kenya becomes a scholarship student at a ritzy girl's school. Johnbrown disappears from her life, living on the run doing political actions, and the next time Kenya sees him, he is in prison. Her mother Sheila remarries a jerk and Kenya decides to live with her father for the summer of her senior year in high school. She has high expectations for college, and also gains three new half siblings on the farm her father shares with his partners, the black woman from the Days and a white woman. It's The Summer That Changes Everything. The reader can only hope that author Solomon has a sequel in the works. Full of humor and pain, the story flows vividly and is over too fast. show less

2022 pandemic read. Local author, local setting. My reading goal for 2022 is to try to read more books either by people who don’t look and/or live like me, or are about people who don’t live/look like me. Glad to have found and read this one. In parts, it took me back to people and places I’d long forgotten. This book is many things, but ultimately, I came away thinking of it as a love story.

At just eight years old, Kenya Curtis feels cast out by her West Philadelphia classmates. Though most of her classmates are black, she’s one of the only kids who celebrates Kwanzaa and can’t say the Pledge of Allegiance. Kenya’s feelings of isolation only grow as her parents, Johnbrown and Sheila, drift apart and she enters adolescence in the new environment of a suburban private school.

More than anything, the strength of Asali Solomon’s Disgruntled lies in its balance. Pulled too show more far toward any of its themes, the novel could have felt too young adult, too political or too philosophical. Instead, Solomon finds a sturdy base in a relatable coming-of-age story and counters it with Johnbrown and Sheila’s evolving beliefs, both of which Kenya comes to question through the course of the novel.

Though she’s often critical, Kenya views the lifestyles she sees around her—including her own—with a balanced and questioning eye based on what she’s been taught. We see this as her parents raise her to distrust Christianity, particularly “the Christianity of tacky white people”, while Sheila makes it clear that “being fanatically religious was a reasonable choice for black people who didn’t know any better.” When Kenya meets a wealthy, suburban white Christian, she is understandably baffled and works to untangle her preconceptions.

“Only when he finished The Key would Johnbrown go back to school and get what he called a square job. (‘Do you know what cats used to call jobs in the fifties?’ he asked Kenya ‘What?’ ‘Slaves.’ ‘You calling me a slave, Johnbrown?’ said Sheila. Cats have jobs? thought Kenya.)”

Solomon’s skill shines in her ability to make the novel’s layered themes and ideas palatable without ever sacrificing depth. Questions of race, class and religion weave their way into Disgruntled‘s pages and surface as Kenya is routinely reminded of their place in her life, often appearing as a mix of humor and pointed observation. Smart and wonderfully narrated, Disgruntled is full of the frank commentary I’d love to see more of in fiction.

More at rivercityreading.com show less

Liselle is hosting a dinner party for her husband, Winn, an unsuccessful political candidate. She has been warned that he is under FBI investigation for his campaign and is about to be arrested. As she lives through the dinner party, she reflects back on a happier time when she was in college and was with her lover, Selena, as well as her earlier life with Winn. Meanwhile, Selena, who has had mental health issues through the years, makes her way through the same day. Both contemplate their show more pasts as thoughts shift to each other.

Reminiscent of Mrs. Dalloway, Sula, and Zami, I enjoyed this short read; especially its observations of contemporary life (it was published in 2021). Despite the brevity of the novel, the diverse characters were well developed and their musings give the reader a lot to think about.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #fsgbooks for the DRC. show less