Sharon Hamer <shamer@HYDE.EDU> wrote:
I just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy and "Upstate" by Kalisha
Buckhanon. "Upstate" was an epistolary book that just didn't ring true
to me.
Sharon's post about Upstate motivated me to dig out the review I did for my
school system last year.
I had qualms about approving Upstate because of the language, but I think that
the book has a lot of value and I wanted to be able to offer it to my students.
First, the letter writing format should have a lot of appeal to reluctant readers.
The language is very rough, but it's realistic for a large segment of a high
school's population. Second, some of my students have friends or family in prison.
Some of my former students are now in prison. I think it's good to have a book that
addresses life in prison and contrasts the type of future that a person who has
been incarcerated can have with that of a person who hasn't.
Upstate by Kalisha Buckhanon
St. Martin's Press, 2005
ISBN - 0-312-71222-7
Reading level 5.2, Interest level grades 11 to adult
$20.00
Two New York teenagers, Antonio and Natasha, are in love. Antonio is arrested for
murdering his abusive father. Separated by Antonio's imprisonment, their physical
contact is curtailed. This book tells the story of their love and relationship,
through a series of letters over a span of ten years.
The language in the early letters is very raw but the use of graphic language is
not gratuitous but necessary to show the characters' development. This changes over
time as both Antonio and Natasha mature. The contrast in their lives is poignant;
Natasha moves ahead with her dreams of studying abroad and becoming a lawyer.
Antonio takes correspondence classes but must face the reality that even after he
serves his sentence, his career choices will always be limited. The book is about
making choices when moralities conflict and dealing with the consequences. I would
recommend this book to mature high school students. This book was nominated for
YALSA's Alex Award (adult books that appeal to teenagers) for 2006.
Jan Davies
Retired Media Specialist
Columbia, Maryland
jgdavies2004@yahoo.com
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