The only tenderness they’ve been shown comes from their Mam and Pop, and Jojo shoulders the main parenting tasks with Kayla because he feels it’s his job as a big brother to do that. The most touching aspect of this book is the close-knit relationship between Jojo and Kayla. Jojo’s little sister is only 2 years old and he is fiercely protective of her because his mother has never really known how to be a parent to them. As a result, Jojo had to grow up very fast and take on more “manly” responsibility than he should have to at only 13 years old. Leonie has had very little impact on her children’s lives, leaving the responsibility of raising them to the her own parents. This in now way affects my review of the book and all opinions written here are my own.

I was given access to an advanced e-reader copy of this novel through NetGalley. He too has something to teach Jojo about fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love. At Parchman, there is another boy, the ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South with him in his wandering. When the children’s father is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. Embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances, she wants to be a better mother, but can’t put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use.

She is black and her children’s father is white. His mother, Leonie, is in constant conflict with herself and those around her. Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. Everything I mention in this review will be spoiler-free because this book really hits hard and I want readers to experience it first hand! I usually don’t even read the synopsis of a book before hand, so I don’t know what to expect but this one kind of lays out all the important elements of the book without giving anything away.Īn intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle, Sing, Unburied, Sing examines the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power – and limitations – of family bonds.

Sing unburied sing a novel