Hemingway, Three Angels, and Me

Jerry leaves upstate New York for the first time at twelve.  He travels to Little Rock Arkansas in 1953 to visit an aunt who was about to have a baby.  He sees Jim Crow for the first time, not being allowed to sit in the balcony of the movie house as it was reserved for "Coloreds Only".  Jerry and his freiends hadn't been raised with such predjudice. This bothered the lad - so much so that he got a special visitor one night following his bedtime prayers - divine guidance.  The life maturing experiences he had witnessed in the south were about to be turned into one of the best adventures Jerry and his friends, the Pompey Hollow Book Club have ever had.  The south would never be the same, again!  It just so happened that in Little Rock, on a secret snooping mission for a story, Ernest Hemingway just might be an opportunity for Jerry to get something done.  Hemingway had learned that Eisenhower was readying troops to enter Little Rock to aid in the desegragation of the public schools. He went there for a story.  Jerry was about to be in the middle of it all.

Hemingway, Three Angels, and Me tells the unique story of a boy who witnesses the prejudice of the Jim Crow era firsthand and then enlists his friends, family members, and neighbors to help Anna Kristina, one victim of that prejudice. The themes of the novel, including racial prejudice, cultural differences, coming of age, and the effects of war, will resonate with modern readers, both young and old. The moral of this story—that it is never too late to make a difference in other people’s lives—is neatly summarized in the epilogue, yet the novel never feels “preachy.” There aren’t any unanswered questions in the novel, and the readers will feel satisfied by the ending.

The novel is generally well structured, and the plot moves at a good pace. The chapter breaks seem deliberate and work well within the novel, often creating a sense of suspense without interrupting the action. In a slightly different vein, the references to the holidays (specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas) serve to make the time frame of the story very clear.

The structure of the novel is fairly typical for the genre. The structure of the novel supports the story. In particular, the structure supports Jerry’s telling of the story: it allows him to really reflect on events and memories but also to tell his story in an engaging way. The amount of introspection he offers works well for the genre and is smoothly integrated into the dialogue and the action.

The first chapter of the novel does a good job of drawing the readers in; it immediately establishes the character of Jerry, offers a bit of historical context, and makes clear the setting of the novel. It’s also rather intriguing, and I was particularly curious about the reference to guardian angels.

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