LitPick Review
As his dad lay dying in the hospital after a car accident, Buddy Rivers, an African-American teenager, finds himself alone. While visiting his father in the hospital Buddy meets Angela, the abused daughter of his father's nurse. Peering over his father's bandaged body, Buddy and Angela immediately form a bond of friendship and of love. Their relationship only grows stronger as Buddy witnesses the constant physical and physiological abuse Angela endures by her parents. After one final drunken attack by her father, Buddy is forced to take Angela to the hospital. As a result, Angela is taken away from her parents and sent to live in a strict Christian girls' home. While at the home Angela is not allowed to see Buddy and is held under constant watch. It is up to Buddy to free her and start a life together.
Opinion:
While I found June Jordan's His Own Where to be a unique and interesting book, I also thought it to be difficult to understand as the entire book is written in Black English, a dialect used by members of the American-American community. Despite the hard to understand dialogue, I was eventually able to understand the language and found myself intrigued with the New York black culture of the early 70s. Although a fairly short book (only 92 pages) it is not an easy read and it takes work to read it. Nevertheless, for someone that doesn't mind putting in a little extra effort, I found the book to be very interesting and would definitely recommend it.
