Born in Sin

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Keisha, a 14-year-old growing up in Georgia, narrates the events of a pivotal summer in Coleman's (White Socks Only) inspiring novel. When her high school guidance counselor thwarts her efforts to get into Avery's fast-track pre-med program and instead places Keisha in a summer program for at-risk kids, Keisha erupts in a rage (" `You know what, Ms. Hill. Ain't the hospital just a few blocks away? I ain't the one at risk. You are.' And I leaped over the desk to get to her"). The author carefully finesses Keisha's complex emotions as she attempts to be true to herself and to navigate the obstructions in her path. It is Keisha's strong narrative voice, combined with some striking characters and relationships, that keeps her story afloat, despite some far-fetched and serpentine plot developments. Through this summer at-risk program, Keisha learns to deal with her own racial prejudice, makes her first real friends and discovers that she has a natural talent for swimming. Readers may find that Keisha's acceleration from non-swimmer to Olympic hopeful stretches credibility. And the two-dimensional portrayal of the white leaders of the at-risk program (they speak in sports metaphors, for instance) detracts from the more penetrating, insidious examples of racism (such as the conversation between Miss Troutman, the head of the program, and Keisha's mother) elsewhere in the novel. But the authentic interactions here far outweigh the missteps. The relationships among the women form the core of the novel: tender bedtime conversations between Keisha and her older sister, many touching scenes between Keisha and her mother, and the heroine's recollections of her grandmother ("As long as there's stars in the sky we gonna be all right. My grandma taught me that before she died and I believe her"). Keisha's rise to the top will keep readers enthralled. Ages 14-up. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A guidance counselor thwarts Keisha's efforts to get into a pre-med track and places her in a summer program for at-risk kids; however, she learns there to deal with her own racial prejudice, and uncovers a natural talent for swimming. "Keisha's rise to the top will keep readers enthralled," said PW. Ages 12-up. (Jan.)

Children's Literature

Keisha wants to attend the premed program at Avery College but the high school guidance counselor believes black girls can't do anything but have babies, and she sends her to a camp for poor, at-risk kids. Keisha becomes a star swimmer, but now must pay to get into Avery. Her mother is determined that Keisha will attend college and has mysteriously started working at the Lion's Den where women earn money by selling themselves or drugs. Keisha's best friend, Betty, is also struggling and gets sucked into the world of drugs and false love, and tries to convince Keisha to give up and follow her destiny. Is Keisha doomed to a life of her past or will she be able to conquer her background and become an Olympic swimmer and medical student? The night Keisha follows her mother to the Lion's Den and gets beat up and almost raped by Betty's lover, she learns more secrets than she ever realized. Keisha's story is all too real, showing the struggle it takes to overcome her background and the environment and desperately try to hold on to her dreams. 2001, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, $16.00. Ages 12 to 18. Reviewer: Janet L. Rose

KLIATT

To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, March 2001: This is a complicated story about a smart African American girl dreaming of a better life, escaping poverty, her mother's dead-end jobs, and her crime-ridden neighborhood filled with people who have given up. Keisha is entering 10th grade, hoping to become a doctor, studying hard, making good grades. In the summer of this novel, she is a part of a program for young people "at risk," a term she resents. As the weeks unfold, she finds out just how "at risk" she really is and she is ready to give up her ambition, give up her dreams, as one crisis after another overtakes her family and friends. As interesting a character as the talented Keisha is, her mother, her best friend, and her older sister are also women whose lives and life choices are riveting. Readers see that Keisha's decisions actually are affected by the decisions these other women close to her have made. Each one has given up dreams; each one has made choices that perpetuate the self-hatred that causes Keisha to feel that somehow they are all "born in sin"—doomed to poverty, ignorance, and self-destruction. At the end of this novel, a catharsis occurs that clears away the secrets that have kept them from their dreams, and with this cleansing comes hope for Keisha. Some may feel that it is a too-happy ending; I for one was glad to hope for Keisha's future happiness. As to style: Keisha knows that sometimes her English is ungrammatical, but she knows correct English; this fact is reflected in the narrative. Other characters also use various forms of English, from street talk to middle-class standard, and Coleman juggles this well. There is some mild swearing; thereis mention of molestation; there is an attempted rape—but the worse violence is the day-to-day struggle of Keisha, her family, her friends and neighbors—and the destruction of their lives and their dreams. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2001, Simon & Schuster, Pulse, 265p.,
— Claire Rosser

VOYA

With dreams of becoming a doctor, Keisha Wright longs to attend the summer pre-med program at Avery University. The competition is fierce, but Keisha knows that being an African American student—and hardworking—should bolster her chances. After being mistakenly labeled "at risk," however, her life takes an unexpected detour to a youth center, where she discovers an innate talent for competitive swimming. Living in the inner city housing projects taxes everyone, including Keisha's tough-as-nails mom, Carolyn, and her two siblings, older sister Rhenda, who is mother to year-old Tomika, and brother Punky. Struggling to make ends meet, Carolyn will go to any length necessary to raise the funds for Keisha's dreams—including keeping secrets from her children. Keisha's newfound competitive edge places her at odds with both old and new friends, as she also struggles to sort out her feelings for Malik, her best friend Betty's handsome and sensitive older brother. The characters' dialect is powerfully accurate. Young readers will feel Keisha's horror at hearing Betty's strung-out, alcoholic mother curse her own daughter for being "high yellow" and accuse her of stealing her boyfriend. Born in Sin succeeds at portraying the uphill climb of children from urban, single-parent families. Written in the tradition of Walter Dean Myers's Slam! (Scholastic, 1996/VOYA February 1997) and Ben Joravsky's Hoop Dreams (Turner, 1995), this book will fly off the shelves of urban high school libraries. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001,Atheneum/S & S, 240p, Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Beth Gilbert SOURCE: VOYA, April 2001 (Vol. 24, No.1)

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-In gritty vernacular, Keisha Wright narrates a testimonial depicting the racial stereotypes and socioeconomic hardships that many urban African-American teens struggle to overcome. A good student with ambitions to become a doctor, she learns that she has been transferred out of the college-prep curriculum by a guidance counselor who considers her to be at-risk. Shocked and angry, the 14-year-old is bolstered by the stalwart affection and support of her hardworking single mother, her intuitive unwed older sister who has a two-year-old, and her loyal younger brother. Attending a white-run teen-rescue program, Keisha discovers her swimming ability and is groomed for Olympic trials by an admiring coach. Her resurrected hopes for success beyond her poor neighborhood seem shattered when a local drug dealer shoots her pregnant best friend and then attacks Keisha. However, through a series of revelations-her mother's additional source of income, the reappearance of her absentee father, and the admiration of her best friend's sensitive brother-Keisha's aspirations revive and she realizes she can create her own future. The protagonist is a determined, observant teen who values family and lives by her grandma and mama's adages, including the one that says, "just `cause we poor, don't mean we born in sin." An assortment of white and African-American characters populate the story, reflecting a variety of backgrounds in education, tolerance, motivation, and influence. Although the happy ending may rattle cynics, teenage readers will find promise, hope, and satisfaction in Keisha's prospects.-Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Keisha is 14; she's smart, she works hard, and she has a really good Mama. She knows who is trouble in the projects, where she lives, and she worries about her older sister, a mother at 17. In this complicated narrative, Keisha longs to apply to a pre-med program for high-school students at a nearby college. At first she's thwarted by well-meaning, but prissy and patronizing, counselors and teachers both white and black. But when she's forced to join the summer program for "at-risk" kids, she reveals a hidden talent-she's a natural swimmer. Keisha is unsparing in her views, and the drug dealer, the good coach, the naïve best friend, and the oreo are sketched in broad strokes. Family secrets, little brothers, how the simplest of gestures can be misinterpreted in the crucible of race, and the dubious and universal teen skill of utterly misconstruing the actions of adults all play a part here. Unfortunately, much of this seems forced, as though the author wanted to include everything she could think of that would teach a lesson. This requires a plot worthy of an afternoon soap with plot devices that stretch credibility. (Could any teen become Olympics-ready in less than a summer?) Keisha moves comfortably from trash talk to Standard English, thinking of herself as bilingual. She makes hard choices and stupid mistakes, but she's a character bigger than the page; most of the other players are hardly visible when she's on stage. (Fiction. YA)