lcl_reads's Reviews (211)

As a Black woman living in the United States who has read several novels by Jodi Picoult, I was curious to consider how this one would be handled, particularly because of what I know of Picoult's background. I must admit, I was a little shocked when the first "nigger" was dropped, but as I read I appreciated the way Picoult confronted her subject head on and without flinching.

As I was reading, I felt a bit conflicted about rating the book. I really appreciated this part of the author's note at the end: " I was writing to my own community - white people- who can very easily point to a neo-Nazi skinhead and say he's racist... but who can't recognize racism in themselves." I think my conflicted feelings are because this book is not written for me.

This book was bold in its pursuit and the amount of research and thought Picoult put into the topic was evident to me.

Some critiques I've read of the book are that Ruth's story is not as developed and I actually appreciated that. I would have loved to have more of the respectibility politics, colorism, and relationships between Ruth, her mother, and her sister explored. I also think Picoult was smart in identifying that that was not her story to tell nor was that the point of this particular book.

I think it is important to remember that no book can be everything, so, yes, this book is not everything, but it is the story I think was right for Picoult to tell to the audience she has, from her position, with the support of the research she did and for what it is, it was executed as well as it could have possibly been.

First, some background about me that I think is relevant to my review. I have a bachelor's and master's degree in education (special education with a focus on elementary education). I have work in several daycares and have one child who has attended several daycares spanning three states. I'm Black, American, a woman, upper class now, but grew up poor. I don't have any experience with Headstart.

I picked this book up because I find education related topics interesting and don't often see books about early childhood education.

I liked reading about the author's experiences in the two schools where she observed. It was insightful and satisfied my desire to see early childhood education through someone else's lens.

I have some reservations about the broad conclusions drawn from the limited observations. It seems she observed in one school much longer than the other and relied more heavily on anecdotal evidence from the school she characterized as wealthier, which struck me as particularly unsound considering she makes the very argument one should be careful about the presumptions that come with social class. The teachers reported that the beginning of the year was more challenging, but students quickly acclimated, but if a researcher is asking months later rather than observing themselves, how might the past be being filtered through rosy tinted lens?

I worry about some of the connections, for example, she highlights teeth brushing as Head Start presuming that their parents need support and that children may not be getting their teeth brushed at home and a practice not seen in the high income preschool. Any NAEYC accredited program is required to brush children's teeth and many programs reach for NAEYC accreditation as a gold standard. In my own experience, the daycare I worked with the highest price tag ($2,700/month for infants in 2020) was the only one where children's teeth were brushed because of NAEYC accreditation. Similarly, I'm wary of the conclusion that personal items are more widely accepted in high income as my own experience, I have encountered a wide range of rules about what is and is not allowed to be brought to school and when.

I wish there were more parent perspectives included in the book. I recognize there is a whole layer of complexity with that, but it did feel like a key piece that was missing to me, particularly because it lumps all the parents together with broad strokes and again many assumptions are made.

I appreciate that she acknowledges her positionality on the topic and includes her shift in approach at the end of the book. I think that shift is part of what makes me question the book and I could feel it while reading because it is evident that her experiences at the two preschools was shaped by her purpose there.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and wanted to keep reading it. Unfortunately, I felt like some of the characters had a pretty warped relationship with food. It really sucks because it wasn't even central to the story and could have been completely omitted without changing much at all.

One character talks about being the "fat kid" and went on a restrictive diet and starts exercising compulsively to lose weight. Now he gets lots of attention from girls. More than once his restrictive eating habits are brought up