What I Am Currently Reading....

After 25 years of life I have developed a love of reading. I was pressured a lot by teachers, throughout middle & high school, to read things that I wasn't interested in so I am assuming that is why I dreaded having to read an entire book, no matter the subject. 

Right now I am reading "The Help" by: Kathryn Stockett. I told myself that I would read this book entirely before I went to see the movie. It's an interesting read, the setting takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, the "other south" as us Alabamians like to call it, during the time of Martin Luther King when blacks were "sharecroppers" and the south was still segregated but pushing towards integration. What makes this book interesting is how the author is able to capture the thoughts and conversations of every character in the book, including the wealthy white ladies and their help. Normally when I have read books that were written about the topic of race in the south I would get this biased outlook on just the view of the whites or the view of the oppressed minority. Kathryn Stockett really took this story to the next level by incorporating both views. She goes into what it's like being "the help" and working for the wealthy white family. What has been most intriguing is how these families rely on the help to raise their children and the children grow up to think of them as part of the family however, at some point of their young lives they pick up on the distance that must be kept between them because of their race. So the help goes on to work for the kids and raise their children and the whole cycle continues. 

As for me growing up in the South (Alabama) and being a proud southerner the topic of how white families oppressed minorities is something that I would like to forget but it is a relevant topic that every southerner must face. My mother's family came from France in the early 1900's and lived in a French ghetto right outside of Birmingham. Well, I wouldn't say "ghetto" but it was a predominantly French area and very poor. I listened to my family talk about how coming up as an immigrant in the south was a real struggle so I feel I can connect to this book in a way that the average southerner can not.

I highly suggest this book to be added to your reads. It's an amazing compilation of views about what was going on during this time. 

Until next time...