Reason read: National Book Award winner, been on the shelf since 2018, read as alternative read on NYT best 21st century books.
This is a story of a broken family. Addictions is a major factor in the brokenness. Of course there is more. This is a biracial couple with two children that are either in prison or using drugs so they're not available to their children. It is sad situation. The main character is JoJo or (Joseph). He is the son and he is the one that takes care of his little sister, Kayla. The story is told by three narrators: JoJo is 13; Leonie the mother of JoJo and Kayla; Richie the ghost. Through the elements of magical realism, ghosts, the author can bring forward to the present the past abuses but also demonstrates the ongoing prejudices by the episode of the police officer stopping their car and putting people into handcuffs without cause. The book has been a coming of age story, a road trip fiction, thriller (I don't see this) and Southern Fiction. There is some African Voodoo culture in the book. ( )

A searing, eviscerating, story presented in gorgeous writing, Sing, Unburied, Sing was a hard book to read. The characters’ pasts and present lives are filled with pain and longing, addiction, racism, and the prison system shattering lives.

The young boy JoJo emerges as a quiet hero, his little sister Kayla’s refuge. Their father is in prison, their mother self-involved and addicted to meth. Their grandparents nurtured them, but Mam is dying of cancer and Pop is struggling with her dying.

When JoJo’s father is to be released from prison, his mother takes the children on a road trip to meet him at the prison. Kayla is ill the entire trip, clinging to her older brother, thie children’s’ needs are not only unmet but irritating to the adults.

At the prison, the spirit of a boy, Richie, who died there joins the family; he seeks JoJo’s grandfather who had protected the him while in prison. He believes that if Pop can tell him how he died, he will be released from this world.

Richie realizes how little life has changed since he was alive. “Sometimes I think it done changed. And then I sleep and wake up, and it ain’t changed none.” Black boys and men are still targeted, still end up in prison for minor crimes.

The climax reveals a horrendous choice Pop had to make. Yet, JoJo takes his Pop’s strength and dignity as a mantle, learns to live with the ghosts, and we hope that he can transcend the past, taking Kayla with him, into a better future.

Now available in paperback. ( )

Raw and heartbreaking

Those familiar with Jesmyn Ward's work know that she takes readers on a journey through places we would rather not see. Lands where adults have long-since given themselves over to their demons, and children lose their innocence at an unfathomably-early age. Such is the case again in her latest novel, "Sing, Unburied, Sing."

With the skill of a poet, Ward introduces readers to tween-aged JoJo, his toddler-aged sister Kayla, and his drug-addicted mother Leonie as they travel to pick up his father who has just been released from the state penitentiary. Ward uses the novel to explore racism, poverty, memories and family bonds.

While Ward is an extraordinarily talented writer (I highly recommend "Salvage the Bones"), I found it a bit more difficult to immerse myself in this book. I appear to be an outlier as this book is getting strong accolades pretty much across the board. The book includes sections that are narrated by "ghosts". Perhaps I am too much of a realist, but I found these sections to be a distraction.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

I thought I would like it more than I did. Ward is a gifted writer, with a flair for dramatic language. Each chapter is in the voice of one of three characters (alive or dead). Unfortunately, the overly dramatic language did not always ring true for some of the characters, especially Leoni. It would have been interesting to have other characters, such as Michael or Pop narrate a chapter.
The ending was a disappointment for me. ( )

This novel is about a poor black/mixed race family in modern day Mississippi but there are a lot of flashbacks to earlier 1900s. The mom and kids are on a road trip to pick up dad from prison. The grandmother is dying of cancer. Many of the characters scan see ghosts and have conversations with them.

The writing is very beautiful and poetic, but the plot moved very slowly especially in the first half. The second half was much better, though a little hard to follow, at least on audiobook. Jojo and Pop saved the book; the other characters I mostly found annoying and beyond stupid, making one bad decision after another. Even the 3 year old was just annoying as hell. The story is so so sad, horrific is parts, with hemes of death, home, and family. I can't say I enjoyed the book, though I think it was well written, just not for me. ( )