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sonidaze1's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book really fast for school so I didn't get to enjoy it as much. The story was good for a boy author writing about a girl.
shgmclicious's review against another edition
3.0
Funny that I feel the need to read a book about being an adopted black girl with white parents who attends a mostly white private school, since that's basically my life experience. But I did love how the book dealt with adoption and race in a way that was very true to life and not over or under done. Plot-wise, it was a little weak, especially at the end.
teresainohio10's review
5.0
Lahni in this story is a teenager struggling to find her place in middle school and her family. In addition to normal teenage issues, she must also deal with the fact she is adopted by a white family and she is black. She also attends all white girl prep school and the popular girls are either jealous of her, or mean to her. She has one friend who is there through it all. As she watches her parent's marriage fall apart and try to find her place in the world, she learns she is a great singer. Her mom takes her to church after the father leaves for another life and she joins the choirs. As she learns to sings, she accepts her life and who she is and along the way becomes a very confident teenager who will do well in life no matter the color of her skin or what her family life is like at home.
jayme_kay's review against another edition
2.0
Bil Wright's When the Black Girl Sings tell the coming of age story of an adopted young black girl. Adoption is the texture, rather than the storyline, but the novel does deal with important issues such as race, religion (but it isn't preachy!), having to make choices, and growing up.
While well written and teaching a good lesson, When the Black Girl Sings didn't really appeal to me. It just didn't pull me in. I didn't identify with any of the characters. I think I only recommend it to kids who are faced with the same issues the novel deals with.
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While well written and teaching a good lesson, When the Black Girl Sings didn't really appeal to me. It just didn't pull me in. I didn't identify with any of the characters. I think I only recommend it to kids who are faced with the same issues the novel deals with.
Check out more book reviews @ http://myabsolutelyridiculouslife.blogspot.com/search/label/Books
margaretefg's review against another edition
4.0
I read this in an afternoon...loved many things about it. First, I love it that the author is African American, as is the protagonist, and the white adoptive parents, although occasionally clueless, are also, well, real parents. And I loved the way Lahni finds a sense of herself through singing and connecting with the African American adults in her choir. I'm wondering if my kids will read it and what they'll have to say.
jocelynw's review against another edition
1.0
"She doesn't know she's a great singer!" is no more believable in a character than "She doesn't know how beautiful she is." And having grown up a choir kid, none of this is plausible.
The main character has only ever sung casually with her parents and her music teacher thinks she has a pleasant voice; that's the extent of her experience as the book begins. She decides she wants to join a church choir and is immediately handed a part singing alongside the featured soloist, and all she does wrong is that she sings a bit too loud. Everything else about her performance is great, despite her having never having had any training to speak of.
I'm not saying good natural singers don't exist, but no matter how great you are, it is highly unlikely that as a middle-schooler that you'll be handed a featured part the minute you join an ensemble otherwise consisting of adults.
Then there's the talent competition, the preparation for which takes up most of the book and for which she gets coaching that entirely consists of instruction to connect her experience with the meaning of the song. Yes, this is important, but if you've never sung formally before, interpretation is about task #567,921.
The most believable aspect of this book was the racist abuse she received from her white classmates, a sort difficult to counter because of its likeness to unfortunately accepted middle-school persecution, and the most believable character was her older teenaged boy stalker. Wright definitely captured the sense of looming menace of attention from someone you don't want and who won't listen to your negative responses.
The main character has only ever sung casually with her parents and her music teacher thinks she has a pleasant voice; that's the extent of her experience as the book begins. She decides she wants to join a church choir and is immediately handed a part singing alongside the featured soloist, and all she does wrong is that she sings a bit too loud. Everything else about her performance is great, despite her having never having had any training to speak of.
I'm not saying good natural singers don't exist, but no matter how great you are, it is highly unlikely that as a middle-schooler that you'll be handed a featured part the minute you join an ensemble otherwise consisting of adults.
Then there's the talent competition, the preparation for which takes up most of the book and for which she gets coaching that entirely consists of instruction to connect her experience with the meaning of the song. Yes, this is important, but if you've never sung formally before, interpretation is about task #567,921.
The most believable aspect of this book was the racist abuse she received from her white classmates, a sort difficult to counter because of its likeness to unfortunately accepted middle-school persecution, and the most believable character was her older teenaged boy stalker. Wright definitely captured the sense of looming menace of attention from someone you don't want and who won't listen to your negative responses.
amcclelland1975's review against another edition
5.0
I really felt this book and so enjoyed it!
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brandiwyne4018's review against another edition
This will be Book 3 of our little book club.