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A young girl learns some difficult lessons in Danzy Senna's debut novel Caucasia. Growing up in a biracial family in 1970s Boston, Birdie has seen her family disintegrate due to the increasing racial tensions. Her father and older sister move to Brazil, where they hope to find true racial equality, while Birdie and her mother drift through the country, eventually adopting new identities (Sheila and Jesse Goldman) and settling in a small New Hampshire town.
Birdie/Jesse tries to find her niche in this new world of eye shadow and gossip and boys, but she also wants to remain true to herself and find a common ground between her white and black heritage. She sets out to find her sister and reconnect with that part of her that has been lost for so long; the search takes her far from the settled, safe life she had in New Hampshire to a far more ambiguous, and unsettled, existence, one in which her own definitions of herself become muddled, and her search for her sister leads ultimately to a search for her own true identity.
Book Description
"Lucid and magnificent." --James McBride, author of The Color of Water
"Senna's remarkable first novel [will] cling to your memory. There's Birdie, who takes after her mother's white, New England side of the family--light skin, straight hair. There's her big sister, Cole, who takes after her father, a radical black intellectual. It's the early seventies, and black-power politics divide their parents, who divide the sisters; Cole disappears with their father, and Birdie goes underground with their mother...Senna tells this coming-of-age tale with impressive beauty and power." --Newsweek
"[An] absorbing debut novel...Senna superbly illustrates the emotional toll that politics and race take on one especially gutsy young girl's development as she makes her way through the parallel limbos between black and white and between girl and young woman...Senna gives new meaning to the twin universal desires for a lost childhood and a new adult self by recounting Birdie's struggle to become someone when she can look and act like anyone." --New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant...a finely nuanced story that explores the matter of race through the eyes and heart of another white black girl."--Ms.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyed it.......2007-10-05
Even though it took me awhile to get through it....it was a good read.
It dragged a little in places, but the story had lots of originality and great writing with great characters!
Identity, race and family.......2007-06-09
It is a reduction to say that this story concerns race. It's much bigger than that. America is a country of shifting identities. Are we Jewish? Black? White? Catholic? To what identity do we cling? This is the story of a little Black girl who can pass for White and does pass for Jewish while her mother is on the run. But it's the story of many of us who don't know who we are or change identities. We pass for cool, for educated for single. It is a story that completely pulls the reader in. We can't bear to put it down. Our young protagonist is heroic, she is determined to put her family back together and her own life. The writing slowly unfolds, pulls us in. This story is both exquisitely written and compelling. I recommend it to all of us who have ever looked in the mirror and wondered if we could pass for straight or for normal. When most of us are anything but. In the end, it's a story of reinvention, perhaps the most American idea of all. Kate Gale
This book is great!.......2006-03-23
I thought this book was so interesting that I couldn't put it down. Interesting story about a struggle for identity. A++
Search for Identity .......2005-12-30
Reading about Birdie's experience was painful for me. Though Birdie's story presents some pretty extreme circumstances, as a mixed race person with very light skin (white people often didn't realize I wasn't white), I could identify with a lot of what Birdie went through mentally and emotionally. I grew up during the sixties and early seventies, and, during those years, especially in certain parts of the country, the concept of multiculturalism wasn't really there in the way we are starting to see it today. Mixed race marriages and children were for a long time pretty revolutionary-at least it often felt that way (Maybe it's appropriate that Senna presents Birdie's parents as "revolutionaries" in her novel). If you had a black parent you were considered-and I think usually still are considered--black and, though like my siblings and I, you might live in the black community and see yourself as black, you didn't always feel accepted. Like Birdie, I spent a lot of time trying to prove myself and feeling defensive around other people whether they were black or white, because we didn't really feel as though we belonged anywhere. Our experience of white and black communities could not always be the same as that of a person who was not mixed or even the same as that of a mixed person who was darker skinned than we were.
A lot of the characters in Senna's novel are confused and ambivalent, because they are in relationships and circumstances that are not considered mainstream for the time and location of the story. Furthermore, since the story is told in retrospect from the viewpoint of a child between the ages of eight and fourteen years old, it makes a great deal of sense to me that certain things are as unclear to the reader as they are to Birdie. I think that this is the author's intent. Birdie, as a child would not know or even think to be concerned with certain things about her parents' relationship; she is justifiably confused about why her mother is on the run and can only echo what she heard from others or what she herself thinks from one moment to the next. Her terror at her parent's breakup, at the disappearance of her father and sister, and her mother's instability color her interpretation of events. She can't give us a clear picture of what's going on because she doesn't have it. Also, while I would also love to know more about Cole's experience, again, since this is Birdie's story, she can only speculate about Cole's experience and present it from her unique perspective. This doesn't invalidate Cole's experience.
Though it may seem to some readers that some of the relationships that Birdie describes are not relevant to the story, I think that they are very revealing and serve to emphasize the difficulty of Birdie's uncertain position. She has a pretty good idea of how Nick and Mona would react if the knew what she was, but she's afraid to confirm her fears by confronting them with that information-she's already seen how the white boys view and treat Samantha and how hostile the white girls are toward her as an outsider. Birdie feels like an outsider, but like most people doesn't want to be treated like an outsider. At the same time, she's aware that she's betraying herself, by hiding behind her identity as Jesse, though until the end she feels she has no choice. She and Samantha both deal with their situations in ways that allow them to survive within their environment. For them to become open allies would work against their survival in that environment. Most teen-agers would not jeopardize their chances at survival among peers who have already demonstrated how ruthless they can be in order to prove a point.
Who Are You?.......2005-10-27
Who Are You?
Edie Jordan
In the novel Caucasia, by Danzy Senna, a young girl named Birdie is separated from her black father and sister and forced into hiding with her white mother in which Birdie struggles with her own identity. Birdie and her sister Cole are very close although they are very different, in appearance; that is, because Cole is black like her father and Birdie is white like her mother.
The first example of Birdie's struggle is her father forcing an identity upon Birdie. He is all about "black power" and wants his daughters to feel the same, even if one doesn't look black. "'Birdie, Cole, do your papa a favor,' he said, `Yell, `Ngawa, Ngawa, Black, Black, Powah!'"(10). This is an example of him forcing an identity upon Birdie. The next example of Birdie's struggle is when her parents get divorced. Knowing about how she was named etc... is enough to cause her to struggle. "Sometimes I began to wander if it was my fault. I knew their marriage had begun to sour at the same time as my birth. They couldn't even agree on a name for me, which is how I ended up with Birdie." (19). This can make someone wander what would have happened if I wasn't this way or if I had a different name and struggle with it. Since her parents are divorced Cole and Birdie only have a little time with their father, in which the only time he pays attention to Birdie is when he is forcing some identity upon her.
Not only does Birdie struggle with identity, but Cole does as well. She doesn't seem to have a handle on who she is so she tries fitting into a teen society, which is wearing makeup, fighting with parents, having a certain hairstyle, etc...
After a while, the book takes a turn. Birdie is woken up by her mother. "We gotta run, baby." (124). This is what Birdie is told, she is being told to run from her known identity to a whole new one. This can be very confusing to someone who is young; it is almost like playing with different identities, so as not to keep one. Birdie has a long time before she will have a stable idea of her identity. She eventually finds out the FBI is after her mother. Her mother must be hiding some kind of secret. She also finds out her father and Cole went to Brazil, and her father left her a box of stuff for her that he labeled "negrobilia". This is again, another example of her dad forcing an identity onto Birdie.
"Your name. We've got to think of a new name for you." (128). This is where the new identity begins to take role. Birdie's new name is Jesse and her mother's is Sheila, and their last name is Goldman. Her mother runs through a fake history of their family as she thinks up a nickname for "Jesse". "I'll call you my little meshugga one. As a term of affection, you know?" (131). They me from place to place until they finally settle down in New Hampshire.
One part of the novel points out how Birdie's identity is always changing. "My doctored passport wasn't much better. A pen had leaked in my knapsack, leaving a smudge of blue across my small, anxious face." (142). This quote shows how much Birdie is changing, almost as if her identity has a blue ink smudge across it, crossing it out and leaving an opening for a new one. Birdie later on meets a boy named Nicolas, who takes interest in Jesse. He one day asks her where she learned to kiss and she says her friend Alex, but really Alex is Alexis, and this shows Birdie is struggling with sexuality as well.
As the story continues, Birdie starts to realize who she is and where she might belong. She runs away and finds her way back to Boston, and lives with her Aunt dot. This is an example of how, although she still doesn't know for sure, she is figuring out who she is and where she belongs. Finally, her mother finds out about this and tells Jesse to come home. But Birdie says no. She also tells her mom who she is. "My name's not Jesse. It's Birdie Lee." (332). Birdie is actually figuring who she is and also finds out where Cole and her dad are, and goes out to find them. She has now figured how where she truly belongs. "It was only when I turned around and looked beside me that I knew where I really was." (412). This is the conclusion to Birdie's search for identity.
With identities being forced upon her and being forced into hiding and given a new name, Birdie struggles with her identity. However, not only is Birdie struggling with identity, but she is figuring it out as well.
Customer Reviews:
Moving and Absorbing.......2003-07-26
Seven out of seven for this book! Seven of us from our book-club have read this book and all seven of us have found it absorbing and moving. It has the ring of truth about it. It is the small details of the events that make your realise that this book is written from first hand experience. It is the story of a young girl who has a black academic father, and a white radical mother. She also has a sister who is very close to her. The mother gets involved in some illegal activity, and has to "disappear" in order to avoid arrest and jail. The writer is thereby separated from her father and sister, and has to learn to survive, in a life of constantly moving from one place to the another, from one lie to the next. She believes that they will all eventually be united as a family again, but this does not happen. The mother and she "crack" at various random moments, unable to continue the false charade that their life has become. The book explores the issue of race, and what it is like to be black/white/coloured, and whether these classifications mean anything at all, after all. The writer's sister identifies with her father's glamorous black girlfriend, when her parents first split up, only to grieve for the "loss" of her white mother later. The book also explores growing up in America in the eighties. The book is full of surprises, and passages one wishes to remember later, because they are so real. Congratulations to Danzy Senna! This book should be on the reading list of every University English course. It is an issue that is highly relevant to our "shrinking-world" where mixed marriages are becoming more and more common. It's powerful! Read it - I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Book Description
Set on a broad isthmus between the Black and Caspian Seas, Caucasia has traditionally been portrayed as either a well-trod highway linking southwest Asia and the Eurasian Steppe or an isolated periphery of the political and cultural centers of the ancient world. Archaeology in the Borderlands: Investigations in Caucasia and Beyond critically re-examines traditional archaeological work in the region, assembling accounts of recent investigations by an international group of scholars from the Caucasus, its neighbors, Europe, and the United States. The twelve chapters in this book address the ways archaeologists must re-conceptualize the region within our larger historical and anthropological frameworks of thought, presenting critical new materials from the Neolithic period through the Iron Age. Challenging traditional models of economic, political, cultural, and social marginality that read the past through Cold War geographies, Archaeology in the Borderlands provides a new challenge to long dominant interpretations of the pre-, proto-, and early history of Eurasia, opening new possibilities for understanding a region that is critical to regional order in the post-Soviet era. This collection represents the first attempt to grapple with the problems and possibilities for archaeology in the Caucasus and its neighboring regions sparked by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of independent states.
Average customer rating:
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Adventures in Caucasia
Alexandre Dumas
Manufacturer: Chilton Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Caucasia
Danzy Senna
Manufacturer: Hodder Headline
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHAVPS |
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Caucasia
Danzy Senna
Manufacturer: Riverside Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0965355667 |
Book Description
When Colonel George Custard decides to build a glitzy new hotel in Hernia, outraged residents protest the project. Soon after, the colonel is found shot to death at the PennDutch Inn. Now Magdalena Yoder must find out who caused Custard's last stand-and save her beloved town...
Customer Reviews:
Yoder at her best.......2007-05-13
Anytime you sit down with a Tamar Myers book featuring Magdalena Yoder you are in for fun time! Magdalena truly comes to life in these books and I love her attitudes and outlook on life. Very refreshing and enjoyable!
Ultimately a Dreary Read.......2007-02-02
This is the only one of Myers' book that I read. I disliked it early on - but I was determined to see it through. The novel has some wit, some mystery, some cleverness - but oh what an unsatisfying mish-mash.
The writing style is skittish - from page one to the finish - so nothing is developed to any extent that you start caring about anything. I just yearned for release at the last page. The lack of focus was grating - but I appreciated the author's gumption of sticking to her style.
This is a light distraction - all froth and little substance.
Really disappointed!.......2007-01-19
So sad I spent the money on this book. Poor writing, comedic style that simply isn't funny, unrealistic and trite dialogue, foundering story line... I'm a third of the way through the book and no one has died yet and nothing's been stolen--there's no mystery yet! I too have a Mennonite heritage and my relatives would kick her right out of Hernia for her blase' attitude about her religion... I picked up the book hoping for some simple, clean fun taking place in a familiar community. Instead I was irritated and bored. Sorry, but no dice. Won't even be finishing this terrible book. Run away!
great read.......2006-02-09
There are no words to describe how enjoyable Magdalena Yoder is to read about. What a zany cast of characters! It takes a great mind to come up with so many laughable daily circumstances. This is a great read as are all of Tamar's books.
One of the Best.......2004-07-08
This 11th book in the Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries by Tamar Myers was worth waiting for. I loved it. Magdalena, the owner of the inn, is in top form, as are all other characters. The humor was on target, the plot fairly simple and suspense worked well when called for. In this book, a guest at the inn named Colonel Custard checks in. He is in Hernia (the town) because he plans to build a five-star hotel and make a tourist haven out of the quaint, Amish-Mennonite community. Suspects abound, as no one wants him to ruin the town like that. Custard recipes look great and are an extra bonus to this highly entertaining book. Magdalena admits she "wails" too much, which helps to validate all the other books that have her "wail"-ing too frequently. One complaint, and that is how she solves this murder. I think it was too far-fetched, even for Magdalena and even if she herself was the one to solve it, there was not enough evidence to convince me to take the suspect seriously. It looked like, when her theory proved true, she just got lucky.
But that tends to be a small thing when being entertained so with another winner from Ms. Myers.
Product Description
Book of music.
Customer Reviews:
A good, fun read.......2003-07-01
This supplement expands on the most militant of the player-character (PC) classes for White Wolf's Exalted role playing game (which to me is probably the most exciting game product published in the last couple of years). The Dawn Caste of Celetial Exalted are the ultimate warriors in the Exalted Game world and this book explores the many facets of playing one.
The first section describes the views and motivations of several of these superhumans. The stories are varied enough that they never become repetitive and make great inspirational reading for those players planning on coming up with character backgrounds. It was fun reading how the sample characters dealt with their sudden transformation to demi-god status and how it affected their views of the world.
The second section details what the sample Exalted think the other factions and powers in the Exalted World and vice versa: Normal mortals, other Exalted, and the Fair Folk. It is interesting to read how some folk view these superhuman warriors as demi-gods and form cults around them. From a Storyteller's perspective I can see a lot of potential for challenging situations for Dawn PCs in these notes.
In the last section are many new charms (the great majority are combat-related of course) for the Dawn player and new artifacts (hearthstones and weapons) for the warriors to dream of.
Like many books in the Exalted series, the typos are present. They are irritating but do not take any fun out of reading.
YEEHAAAWWWW!!!!!!!!!!.......2002-03-22
Thank you White Wolf this game rocks. The source books are well written and very interesting. The characters used to illustrate what each caste should be like are excellent. Highly recommend this game to anyone who is sick of vampire or is an old school D&D gamer at heart.
Book Description
The essential guide for every dad by the bestselling author of Expectant Father and the New Father series, Father for Life is the first book to look at the phases of fatherhood from the conception of a child through the grandfather years. While there have been many books about child development and motherhood, precious little has been written about how fathers change and develop as parents or about how children influence their fathers' development. Yet most fathers know that a man who's just found out that his wife is expecting is a very different kind of man from the one he'll be when he holds his newborn in his arms for the first time. And that same dad will have changed again--psychologically and emotionally--by the time his baby speaks for the first time. Fathers evolve and develop throughout every stage of their children's lives--from the preschool and elementary school years through the tumultuous teens, young adulthood, middle age, grandfather years, and beyond. But no matter what the child's age, a father is always a father.
In this ground-breaking book, Armin Brott presents the stages of fatherhood with the same thoroughness, accessibility, and humor that have made his critically acclaimed books the most popular fatherhood guides in the country. He offers a wealth of information and practical tips, incorporating the wisdom of experts, studies about parental development, and his own extensive interviews with hundreds of fathers. Because fatherhood is a progression, the chapters are organized chronologically and describe a father's physical and emotional growth, how he influences a child at every age, and how a child impacts a father's evolution in turn. Brott covers everything from such general issues as how to juggle work and family roles, how to affect the kind of person your child becomes, and when to encourage his individuality and independence to such specific topics as how to get to know your baby, what to do if your teen uses drugs, and how to cope when adult children return home.
Illustrated throughout with New Yorker-style cartoons that underscore the universality of the joys and woes of parenting, Father for Life is brimming with insights and advice, and is an indispensable, lifelong guide--not only for every dad, but for every mom and child as well.
Other details: 40 black-and-white illustrations
Customer Reviews:
Too much of an overview.......2004-07-23
I saw a couple of reviews on this book, in a newspaper in Mexico City, and decided to pick up a copy because both reviews were very positive. Besides, I recently became a father so this could be helpful.
In general, the book is enjoyable to read but it has one shortcoming in my opinion.
As a father of a one year old boy, I thoroughly enjoyed the pertinent chapters and could relate to what I read. The other chapters (puberty, teens, leaving home.....) were not very interesting, for me at least.
I now think that if you want to read about being a father, you should look for a book dedicated to fathers with kids the age of yours. In other words, the book is way too ambitious.
It has to be very difficult to describe what it is to be a father, of children of absolutely any age, and have people relate to the reading.
The book makes a few good points about kids the same age as mine and I enjoyed it, but it tries to summarize too much in just a few pages.
Still, an OK book.
Books:
- Certain Prey
- City of Glass: The Graphic Novel
- Classic Japanese Porcelain: Imari and Kakiemon
- Creativity & Madness: Psychological Studies of Art and Artists (Creativity & Madness)
- Criminal Minded: A Novel
- Cry No More
- Darkness, Take My Hand (Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennaro Novels)
- Darwin's Radio
- Day of the False King: A Novel of Murder in Ancient Babylon
- Death by Darjeeling (Tea Shop Mysteries)
Books Index
Books Home
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ERASURE
Half and Half: Writers on Growing Up Biracial and Bicultural
