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Silver Sparrow (2011)

by Tayari Jones(Favorite Author)

3.73 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1565129903 (ISBN13: 9781565129900)

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fiction

publisher

Algonquin Books

review 1: In this book, two daughters, one who has no idea that her father has another daughter and one who does know, meet and their worlds crash hard. Dana is the daughter of the second wife that James illegally married. Dana and her mother Gwen know that he has a first wife and daughter, but they stay out of their way. Chaurisse and her mother have no idea that Dana and Gwen exist.The first part of the book is told in Dana’s voice. It was easy to feel sorry for Dana being second to Chaurisse. Even so, Dana yearned to learn more about Chaurisse and have a relationship with her. When they are in their late teens, they become friends. The first part of the book was a little slow going for me. We learn the foundation and basics of the story, but big things do not happen until the s... moreecond part of the book.The second part of the book is told in Chaurisse’s voice, and it is the part where Chaurisse and Laverne find out about Dana. It was frustrating for me that the voice changed. Since I sympathized more with Dana, I wanted to know how she felt during the events of the second part of the book. I never really felt a conncetion wth Chaurisse and never got to sympathize with her like I did with Dana. At the end of the book, Dana does give a little bit more of her perspective in the epilogue, but there is not much to the epilogue. Really, after the unveiling, there is not as much a reaction as I had expected. I borrowed this book from the library, and it was a good and interesting read. I do recommend it to drama readers
review 2: I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed the technique of telling this story from the girls perspectives. This is a rather interesting story of bigamy and how Black people fit within this complex issue. I really felt for Dana and the many compromises she had to make to keep Bunny II's life in order. I just didnt like the story ended. How could a man proclaim to love his illegitimate child and because she exposed the truth. At no point should she should have had to hide. I know plenty of men who were of the same age group of James and they respected their side children enough to allow them relationships with their extended family and the ability to freely move in the world without hiding. The ending really frustrated me. It felt terribly rushed and full of plot holes. What was the point of the encounter later in life? Also it seemed like the author was implying that Dana didnt get into school and didnt achieve the life she wanted. I remember the sentences; "I have a townhouse. Its slightly [nicer/bigger] than my mom's, but its mine", breaking my heart. Is that all we strive for now? Bigger and better than our parents? I guess that it the American dream. But what concerns me is that she was never really all that ashamed of their apt, so why the emphasis on the better. Is it because they struggled after the revelation? Was the mom really getting that much support from the father. From what I gather, I think it was just a plot hole in the rush of an ending which is why I down graded the book some. less

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