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A review by maggieblackbird
Cemetery Songs by Julie Gilbert
4.0
You read the blurb, so I’ll get straight to the review. First off, I loved the character of Apolonia aka Polly. She’s at a point in her life where she’s confused, angry, and full of grief after losing her birth mother, and growing up in a Caucasian community with Caucasian adoptive parents.
In some ways, I found myself thinking of the late Richard Wagamese’s For Joshua, because he was a Sixties Scoop child, and was also full of the same feelings growing up far away from the Anishinaabeg, his people. The author captured the confusion and longing teenagers undergo when placed in a community where the colour of their skin is different as they attempt to search for their true identity.
I especially enjoyed the lost friendship between Henrietta and Polly. Both were African American, yet Henrietta seemed content with her surroundings, but Polly struggled.
Read more here: https://maggieblackbird.com/2020/12/17/julie-gilbert-cemetery-songs/#more-19726
Merged review:
You read the blurb, so I’ll get straight to the review. First off, I loved the character of Apolonia aka Polly. She’s at a point in her life where she’s confused, angry, and full of grief after losing her birth mother, and growing up in a Caucasian community with Caucasian adoptive parents.
In some ways, I found myself thinking of the late Richard Wagamese’s For Joshua, because he was a Sixties Scoop child, and was also full of the same feelings growing up far away from the Anishinaabeg, his people. The author captured the confusion and longing teenagers undergo when placed in a community where the colour of their skin is different as they attempt to search for their true identity.
I especially enjoyed the lost friendship between Henrietta and Polly. Both were African American, yet Henrietta seemed content with her surroundings, but Polly struggled.
Read more here: https://maggieblackbird.com/2020/12/17/julie-gilbert-cemetery-songs/#more-19726
In some ways, I found myself thinking of the late Richard Wagamese’s For Joshua, because he was a Sixties Scoop child, and was also full of the same feelings growing up far away from the Anishinaabeg, his people. The author captured the confusion and longing teenagers undergo when placed in a community where the colour of their skin is different as they attempt to search for their true identity.
I especially enjoyed the lost friendship between Henrietta and Polly. Both were African American, yet Henrietta seemed content with her surroundings, but Polly struggled.
Read more here: https://maggieblackbird.com/2020/12/17/julie-gilbert-cemetery-songs/#more-19726
Merged review:
You read the blurb, so I’ll get straight to the review. First off, I loved the character of Apolonia aka Polly. She’s at a point in her life where she’s confused, angry, and full of grief after losing her birth mother, and growing up in a Caucasian community with Caucasian adoptive parents.
In some ways, I found myself thinking of the late Richard Wagamese’s For Joshua, because he was a Sixties Scoop child, and was also full of the same feelings growing up far away from the Anishinaabeg, his people. The author captured the confusion and longing teenagers undergo when placed in a community where the colour of their skin is different as they attempt to search for their true identity.
I especially enjoyed the lost friendship between Henrietta and Polly. Both were African American, yet Henrietta seemed content with her surroundings, but Polly struggled.
Read more here: https://maggieblackbird.com/2020/12/17/julie-gilbert-cemetery-songs/#more-19726