Reading Update: Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

The frenzy of reading updates continues...
 

   This recipient of the Michael Printz award is a powerful read that is based upon the understood rules of the Jim Crow South, the bonds of family loyalty, and the tragic event of the 1937 New London school explosion.
     Naomi has moved with her younger twin siblings to live with Henry,  the twins' biological father, after he has promised to provide a brighter future than the ones their poverty-stricken grandparents could offer. Henry disappeared when their mother died in childbirth, deserting the newborn twins and his 8-year-old stepdaughter. As he attempts to fill his fatherly role many years later, he suffers from demons of his own but he is consistently encouraged by his local pastor to keep trying.
     The children's mother was Mexican and although the twins look white, Naomi is too dark to pass as white. Yet, she is too light to pass as black. She finds herself in no man's land, which is a lonely and cruel place. She contents herself by being a mother figure for her younger siblings and finishing her senior year of high school. Surprisingly, she develops a friendship with Wash, another high school senior - but one who attends the high school for black students. From the start, the two know that their relationship is dangerous, yet their attraction is irresistible, and they fall in love.
     Their worlds are destroyed when a tragic event befalls the local school. A gas leak causes an explosion that leaves the school a pile of rubble. Without giving the ending away, it's safe to say that the community is grief-stricken and people looked for a finger to point, a person to blame. A dangerous place for Naomi and Wash becomes even more threatening during this period of heightened tension.

Practical Considerations: (Warning: Don't read if you don't want the ending to be spoiled). With its Romeo-and-Juliet type ending, it would obviously be a great choice for a supplementary read during a study of Shakespeare's classic. However, the book contains some challenging aspects. Each chapter is told from a different point of view and involves controversial topics such as masturbating, rape, lynching, and child abuse. I would save this book, albeit a powerful read, for the advanced readers in the upper grades of high school.