Yes, But... Rattlebone

 Yes, I know he's been indicted. I know there may be 30 charges in the indictment. Maybe he'll be arraigned on Tuesday. The media is going crazy with information about Turnip Man and totally forgetting there was another school shooting, fascism is spreading across the red states, and treasonous legislators not only still walk around free spouting their poison, they're still seated in the Congress wasting taxpayer money and doing nothing to help our country.

So I'm numb to the news about HIM. I want to see more accountability for instigating and/or assisting in the violent coup attempt on January 6th.  Dan Rather said it best anyway.

I did, however, just finish a really good book.

The display table as I walked into our library got me again! I cannot go by it without my eye falling upon a book that pulls me toward it. This time it was Rattlebone by Maxine Clair.  I hadn’t heard of the author, but the unusual title attracted me and I had to pick it up. The review on the back promised plot twists and new interesting characters.  I looked at the inside jacket and learned that Rattlebone is a real place. I had to check it out and read it.

 

There are different featured characters in this series of vignettes but one shows up most of the time: Irene Wilson, just beginning adolescence at the beginning. By the end, she is a senior in high school. In between, she does a lot of growing up with a lot of events in her young life.

 

I learned that Rattlebone is or was a Black community within Kansas City. The story begins in the early 1950s, before Brown Vs. Board of Education, so Irene attends a segregated school.  She has a troubled home life because her parents don’t get along. Still, she has a close friend or two throughout her teen years. She also keeps a secret journal. In that way, she reminds me of myself. I used my journals to pour out my heart with secrets I couldn’t share with others.

 

There is humor; there is drama; there is tragedy and trauma. I wouldn’t say that it would keep you on the edge of your seat with suspense, but it is a page-turner. I couldn’t put the book down. I would recommend it to anyone, especially those who enjoy historical fiction. I can’t believe I’m labeling this as historical fiction, lol, because the story mostly takes place just a few years before I was born.