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librarybonanza 's review for:
Out of Darkness
by Ashley Hope Pérez
Age: High School-College
Tough issue: Interracial romance, pedophilia, sexual abuse
History: 1930s
Cultures: Mexican American, African American
Holy shit, I am still reeling from this book.
"In Out of Darkness seventeen-year-old Naomi moves with her half siblings to her stepfather's new home in an oil drilling settlement town. When their Mexican-American mother died in childbirth seven years earlier, Naomi became the surrogate mother to the twins. Now Naomi must balance the demands of being the only Mexican-American at her high school with keeping house for her Caucasian stepfather, whom she despises.
A sign at the town diner: "No Negroes, Mexican or dogs."
Beautiful Naomi becomes the object of desire and of racial prejudice. She finds secret pleasure with Wash, an intelligent boy who is a senior at the all black school in a segregated town. They imagine a future together with the twins, free from persecution" (Goodreads review by Sarah Laurence).
Although the story centers around the 1937 New London school explosion, the strength of Out of Darkness lies in Perez's multi-layered presentation of cultural outliers. One would need a class discussion to unpack heavier themes including skin color (the twins are half Mexican American but pass as white), evolving tolerance, masked prejudice, sexual abuse, and power.
Tough issue: Interracial romance, pedophilia, sexual abuse
History: 1930s
Cultures: Mexican American, African American
Holy shit, I am still reeling from this book.
"In Out of Darkness seventeen-year-old Naomi moves with her half siblings to her stepfather's new home in an oil drilling settlement town. When their Mexican-American mother died in childbirth seven years earlier, Naomi became the surrogate mother to the twins. Now Naomi must balance the demands of being the only Mexican-American at her high school with keeping house for her Caucasian stepfather, whom she despises.
A sign at the town diner: "No Negroes, Mexican or dogs."
Beautiful Naomi becomes the object of desire and of racial prejudice. She finds secret pleasure with Wash, an intelligent boy who is a senior at the all black school in a segregated town. They imagine a future together with the twins, free from persecution" (Goodreads review by Sarah Laurence).
Although the story centers around the 1937 New London school explosion, the strength of Out of Darkness lies in Perez's multi-layered presentation of cultural outliers. One would need a class discussion to unpack heavier themes including skin color (the twins are half Mexican American but pass as white), evolving tolerance, masked prejudice, sexual abuse, and power.