LitPick Review
Clifton is struggling to have a meaningful relationship with someone. After his father's murder, all Clifton has left is his drunken mother who is never there for him. As a biracial black and white child, Clifton struggles with his racial identity. He feels like an outcast. He looks for someone to connect with, someone to trust. Clifton gets an idea to put messages in his mother's beer bottles and float them down a river, hoping for someone to find them and communicate with him.
A mysterious man named Swamper finds a bottle and writes to Clifton asking him to come visit him. Clifton meets Swamper and right away they become great friends. Swamper doesn't seem to notice the color of people's skin. He accepts Clifton the way he is. Clifton finally feels like he can enjoy life again.
Then one day while he is walking to Swamper's house and he witnesses a kidnapping that shakes his whole world again. Should he tell the police? All he can think about is his father's murder. He decides to tell Swamper what he saw. The only problem is Clifton doesn't know Swamper is hiding a secret that can change their lives forever.
Opinion:
Gray Baby, by Scott Loring Sanders is an incredible book that shows you the truth behind racial prejudice. I loved the story. The ending was powerful but the beginning was weak. Some parts were lacking plot and there was a lot of description that wasn't helpful to the story, for example, I wanted the author to allow me to feel Clifton's pain and know his thoughts about his father's murder. I did not think details like Clifton's Dark Vader poster were important. It did not captivate my attention and I really did not want to continue reading. The storyline jumps around a lot and was hard to follow.
Scott includes brilliant foreshadowing and metaphors throughout the book. I read the book twice just to find all of the hints he wrote about Swamper. The ending was amazing because it was surprising, yet clearly obvious!
