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The Negro in the Making of America
Brought to the New World in chains, the Negro has finally become a tidal force in American life. The Story of his emergence from bondage to the center of today's civil-rights stage is vividly and authoritatively told in this book by a noted Negro Historian
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1972
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216 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Arthur Quarles
27 books17 followersQuarles was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was a subway porter. He married twice, first to Vera Bullock Quarles, who died in 1951, and second to Ruth Brett Quarles. He had two daughters, Pamela and Roberta.
In his Twenties, Quarles enrolled at Shaw University and received his B.A. degree in 1931, M.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1933, and Ph.D. in 1940. He worked as an instructor of history at Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina (1935–39), a professor and dean at Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana (1939–1953), and a professor of history and chair of department at Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland (1953–1974). At Morgan, Quarles reached near legendary status as the long-time head of the History Department, a revered teacher and counselor, an intellectual and professional mentor for two generations of African American scholars. Many of his books were required reading in the African American history courses that sprang up in eastern American Universities during the 1960s.
He was an active member of many political and historical organizations such as Project Advisory Committee on Black Congress Members, Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee, and American Council of Learned Societies. He was one of the few men in the profession who openly supported the founding of the Association of Black Women Historians.
Quarles died of a heart attack at age of 92. In 1988 Morgan State University dedicated The Benjamin A. Quarles African-American Studies Room in the school library as a repository for his books, manuscripts, and memorabilia.
In his Twenties, Quarles enrolled at Shaw University and received his B.A. degree in 1931, M.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1933, and Ph.D. in 1940. He worked as an instructor of history at Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina (1935–39), a professor and dean at Dillard University, New Orleans, Louisiana (1939–1953), and a professor of history and chair of department at Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland (1953–1974). At Morgan, Quarles reached near legendary status as the long-time head of the History Department, a revered teacher and counselor, an intellectual and professional mentor for two generations of African American scholars. Many of his books were required reading in the African American history courses that sprang up in eastern American Universities during the 1960s.
He was an active member of many political and historical organizations such as Project Advisory Committee on Black Congress Members, Department of the Army Historical Advisory Committee, and American Council of Learned Societies. He was one of the few men in the profession who openly supported the founding of the Association of Black Women Historians.
Quarles died of a heart attack at age of 92. In 1988 Morgan State University dedicated The Benjamin A. Quarles African-American Studies Room in the school library as a repository for his books, manuscripts, and memorabilia.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 18, 2019
Readable, thorough, heartbreaking, fascinating. It’ll leave you hungry for more black history in the United States. It was written in 1965- my only wish is that we have Benjamin Quarles to make sense of what’s happened since.
February 21, 2016
Excellent overview of African American historical record in the U.S. Providing brief introductions to many of the most important events and people that shaped the nation, both then and now. Quarles' ability to include so much history in a manageable number of pages (making it the perfect introduction to African American history/studies for young people) gives this book an edge when looking to spark someone's interest in the subject.
June 19, 2016
I read this in my American History class in 1968. I thought it was as good now as I did then. An important book that definitely should be read and discussed in schools today.
March 19, 2018
I first read this book as a junior in high school. As I revisit it all these years later, I can see why it was such a memorable book. So insightful!
July 8, 2025
AN IMPORTANT HISTORICAL PORTRAIT OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE U.S.
Benjamin Author Quarles (1904-1996) taught history at Dillard University and Morgan State University.
He wrote in the Foreword to this 1964 book (revised edition, 1969), “If, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as Negro history, it is because his past has become so interwoven into the whole fabric of our civilization. Except for the Indian, the Negro is America’s oldest ethnic minority. Except for the first settlers at Jamestown, the Negro’s roots in the original thirteen colonies sink deeper than those of any other group from across the Atlantic. The Negro helped to make America what it was and what it is. Since the founding of Virginia he has been a factor in many of the major issues of our history.” (Pg. 7)
He continues, “The role of the Negro in the making of America is, generally speaking, neither well known or correctly known. Often the positive contributions of the Negro have escaped the eye of the historian, and hence do not find their way into the page of his work. Many books on the American past are silent on the Negro, except for a description of some problems he presented… When he is mentioned solely with reference to problem areas, an incomplete, distorted picture emerges. In either case, a more balanced focus is desirable… Books which seek to present an accurate picture of the Negro’s past are, in effect, bridges to intergroup harmony---the Negro would be more readily accepted into the full promise of American life if his role in our history were better known… The story of the Negro in the United States is a combination of the tragic and the heroic, of denial and affirmation. But most of all, it is the record of a tidal force in American life, and this is the dominant note this work attempts to sound.”
He explains, “Whatever the nation, the actual operation of the slave trade was much the same… A staple of the trade was intoxicating drink… Ships also made it a point to carry a supply of trinkets---baubles, bells, looking glasses, bracelets, and glass beads---which were of negligible cost and had a fascination for native chiefs. Upon landing for the first time, the trading company made arrangements to establish a joint fort and trading station… Thus laden with goods, and with storage space to accommodate the expected human cargo, the trader was ready to do business with the native chief. The whites did not go to the interior to procures slaves; this they left to the Africans themselves.
“Spurred on by the desire for European goods, one tribe raided another, seized whatever captives it could, and marched them in coffles, with leather thongs around their necks, to the coastal trading centers. Doubtless the full enormity of what they were doing did not dawn on the African chiefs. Neither intertribal warfare nor human bondage was uncommon. Indeed, from time immemorial men in Africa had become slaves by being captured in warfare, or as a punishment for crime or because of failure to pay debts. There was, however, no stigma of inherent inferiority attached to slave status… Moreover, the demand for slaves had been limited. But when the European arrived, there was a great upsurge in the market for slaves, and the native chiefs were unwilling to resist the temptations of the trade. Later, when the entire West coast had been turned into a huge slave corral, the chiefs were unable to arrest the traffic.” (Pg. 21)
He notes, “There can be no question that the slave did make an adjustment to his lot. But this did not mean that he was satisfied. In many ways he struck back, from slowing up in his work to staging a full-scale revolt. The most common of his techniques of protest was what has been called his ‘day-to-day resistance.’ In going about his work, the slave might make it a point to be inefficient, pretending to be too stupid to learn, particularly if he were asked to perform a new task or use a different tool; this was a form of ‘outdumbing,’ if not outsmarting, the master. Slaves were careless about property, abusing the livestock and damaging the farm implements…. The destruction of property by fire was a slave technique that was particularly dreaded by the master… Fire insurance companies were sometimes reluctant to write policies for slaveholders. Another way in which the slave stuck back was the feigning of illness… Occasionally a slave might lame himself to avoid work but self-mutilation was not common… One of the subtler ways of expressing dissatisfaction was through stories and songs. The Uncle Remus stories… were popular among slaves… Slaves found a safety valve in their songs, especially the spirituals… slave sermons and religious songs were ‘other worldly,’ dealing with the kingdom to come, with Promised Lands of milk and honey. Such an approach was essentially escapist---to sing of bright mansions above would take one’s mind off the drabness of slave row.” (Pg. 74-76)
He points out that “In making a living, the Negro faced restrictions. He was confined to the lowest-paid jobs generally in two fields, common labor and domestic service. To get a job as a skilled worker was not easy. Many northern Negroes had, as slaves, learned a trade, but they found out that as free men they were not given the opportunity to put their training to use… no white craftsman … would take him on as apprentice, which would cause the craftsman to lower himself in the eyes of his associates. Moreover, in the North the white worker looked upon the Negro as a job threat. Trade unions would not accept a colored applicant, this creating a hostility on the part of the Negro toward organized labor.” (Pg. 93)
He clarifies, “One of Lincoln’s chief reasons for advocating Negro migration was his momentous decision to issue a proclamation freeing the slaves. It would, reasoned Lincoln, be easier to defend such a step if there were a place to ship the freed slaves. But he was prepared to issue a proclamation, emigration or no. He had been urged to take such a step by newspaper editors, groups of clergymen, and a number of influential congressmen.” (Pg. 115)
He continues, “With few dissenters, Negroes viewed Lincoln as a man who was personally well disposed toward them. They had heard of his graciousness to Negroes who had put in an appearance at the White House, whether on public occasions, such as a New Year’s Day reception, or on personal visits, such as that of the delegation of Baltimoreans who presented him with a huge, ornamented Bible. Negroes saw Lincoln as a humanitarian whose love for his fellow embraced all sorts and conditions of men. They sensed that he was a growing man—ever learning, particularly in his concepts of liberty.” (Pg. 123-124)
He notes, “The black Codes… did differ from the slave codes on some points. They granted Negroes the right to own property, to make contracts, to sue and be sued, to testify in court in cases involving other Negroes, and to have legal marriages. But they left the Negro, in one sense, even more at the mercy of the whites than the slave codes, which had given him at least the powerful voice of his owner, bent on protecting a valuable piece of property.” (Pg. 130)
He recounts, “[Booker T.] Washington was aware that many Negroes resented industrial education, connecting it with slavery. But the type of education he advocated developed character as well as mechanical skills. In 1907 Washington stated that he had made careful investigation and had not found a single Tuskegee graduate ‘within the walls of any penitentiary in the United States.’ Though by no means the originator of vocational education, in his day Washington was its greatest exponent in America. Moreover, his influence outstripped that of anyone else. Before making gifts to Negro colleges, prospective white donors sought Washington’s assurance that their monies would be earmarked for his kind of education. Struggling Negro colleges were only too anxious to add trades to the curriculum in order to get badly needed funds.” (Pg. 167)
He states, “A Negro who got an important letter from Washington D.C., invariably owed his good fortune to something that had been done by the Washington from Tuskegee. No Negro ever equalled Washington in influencing the political patronage involved in naming Negroes to federal posts. Washington has strong contacts at the White House, three successive Republican occupants holding him in high esteem.” (Pg. 170)
He comments, “The postwar [WWI] restlessness of the colored American found expression in the so-called Negro Renaissance, a creative outpouring in literature, art, and music… the Negro Renaissance was distinctive in two major respects: as an effort to articulate the discontent of the Negro… Negro writers and artists made a deliberate effort to cease aping others and to produce work that might be racial in theme but that would also be universal in depth and appeal. The sought to be writers, not Negro writers… There would be, however, no catering to whites. All the writers of the Negro Renaissance agreed on one canon: the use of dialect was taboo. Their objection was… to the literary and topical limitations it imposed.” (Pg. 199)
He concludes, “black Americans had increasingly given evidences of a purposefulness and an inner strength that should have been as exhilarant to whites as it was to blacks themselves… the passionate rhetoric of the black militant and much of the riot behavior of the slum dweller alike find their motivation in a desire for equal justice and equal opportunity, themes as American as one could wish.” (Pg. 290)
This book will be of great interest to those studying African-American history.
Benjamin Author Quarles (1904-1996) taught history at Dillard University and Morgan State University.
He wrote in the Foreword to this 1964 book (revised edition, 1969), “If, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as Negro history, it is because his past has become so interwoven into the whole fabric of our civilization. Except for the Indian, the Negro is America’s oldest ethnic minority. Except for the first settlers at Jamestown, the Negro’s roots in the original thirteen colonies sink deeper than those of any other group from across the Atlantic. The Negro helped to make America what it was and what it is. Since the founding of Virginia he has been a factor in many of the major issues of our history.” (Pg. 7)
He continues, “The role of the Negro in the making of America is, generally speaking, neither well known or correctly known. Often the positive contributions of the Negro have escaped the eye of the historian, and hence do not find their way into the page of his work. Many books on the American past are silent on the Negro, except for a description of some problems he presented… When he is mentioned solely with reference to problem areas, an incomplete, distorted picture emerges. In either case, a more balanced focus is desirable… Books which seek to present an accurate picture of the Negro’s past are, in effect, bridges to intergroup harmony---the Negro would be more readily accepted into the full promise of American life if his role in our history were better known… The story of the Negro in the United States is a combination of the tragic and the heroic, of denial and affirmation. But most of all, it is the record of a tidal force in American life, and this is the dominant note this work attempts to sound.”
He explains, “Whatever the nation, the actual operation of the slave trade was much the same… A staple of the trade was intoxicating drink… Ships also made it a point to carry a supply of trinkets---baubles, bells, looking glasses, bracelets, and glass beads---which were of negligible cost and had a fascination for native chiefs. Upon landing for the first time, the trading company made arrangements to establish a joint fort and trading station… Thus laden with goods, and with storage space to accommodate the expected human cargo, the trader was ready to do business with the native chief. The whites did not go to the interior to procures slaves; this they left to the Africans themselves.
“Spurred on by the desire for European goods, one tribe raided another, seized whatever captives it could, and marched them in coffles, with leather thongs around their necks, to the coastal trading centers. Doubtless the full enormity of what they were doing did not dawn on the African chiefs. Neither intertribal warfare nor human bondage was uncommon. Indeed, from time immemorial men in Africa had become slaves by being captured in warfare, or as a punishment for crime or because of failure to pay debts. There was, however, no stigma of inherent inferiority attached to slave status… Moreover, the demand for slaves had been limited. But when the European arrived, there was a great upsurge in the market for slaves, and the native chiefs were unwilling to resist the temptations of the trade. Later, when the entire West coast had been turned into a huge slave corral, the chiefs were unable to arrest the traffic.” (Pg. 21)
He notes, “There can be no question that the slave did make an adjustment to his lot. But this did not mean that he was satisfied. In many ways he struck back, from slowing up in his work to staging a full-scale revolt. The most common of his techniques of protest was what has been called his ‘day-to-day resistance.’ In going about his work, the slave might make it a point to be inefficient, pretending to be too stupid to learn, particularly if he were asked to perform a new task or use a different tool; this was a form of ‘outdumbing,’ if not outsmarting, the master. Slaves were careless about property, abusing the livestock and damaging the farm implements…. The destruction of property by fire was a slave technique that was particularly dreaded by the master… Fire insurance companies were sometimes reluctant to write policies for slaveholders. Another way in which the slave stuck back was the feigning of illness… Occasionally a slave might lame himself to avoid work but self-mutilation was not common… One of the subtler ways of expressing dissatisfaction was through stories and songs. The Uncle Remus stories… were popular among slaves… Slaves found a safety valve in their songs, especially the spirituals… slave sermons and religious songs were ‘other worldly,’ dealing with the kingdom to come, with Promised Lands of milk and honey. Such an approach was essentially escapist---to sing of bright mansions above would take one’s mind off the drabness of slave row.” (Pg. 74-76)
He points out that “In making a living, the Negro faced restrictions. He was confined to the lowest-paid jobs generally in two fields, common labor and domestic service. To get a job as a skilled worker was not easy. Many northern Negroes had, as slaves, learned a trade, but they found out that as free men they were not given the opportunity to put their training to use… no white craftsman … would take him on as apprentice, which would cause the craftsman to lower himself in the eyes of his associates. Moreover, in the North the white worker looked upon the Negro as a job threat. Trade unions would not accept a colored applicant, this creating a hostility on the part of the Negro toward organized labor.” (Pg. 93)
He clarifies, “One of Lincoln’s chief reasons for advocating Negro migration was his momentous decision to issue a proclamation freeing the slaves. It would, reasoned Lincoln, be easier to defend such a step if there were a place to ship the freed slaves. But he was prepared to issue a proclamation, emigration or no. He had been urged to take such a step by newspaper editors, groups of clergymen, and a number of influential congressmen.” (Pg. 115)
He continues, “With few dissenters, Negroes viewed Lincoln as a man who was personally well disposed toward them. They had heard of his graciousness to Negroes who had put in an appearance at the White House, whether on public occasions, such as a New Year’s Day reception, or on personal visits, such as that of the delegation of Baltimoreans who presented him with a huge, ornamented Bible. Negroes saw Lincoln as a humanitarian whose love for his fellow embraced all sorts and conditions of men. They sensed that he was a growing man—ever learning, particularly in his concepts of liberty.” (Pg. 123-124)
He notes, “The black Codes… did differ from the slave codes on some points. They granted Negroes the right to own property, to make contracts, to sue and be sued, to testify in court in cases involving other Negroes, and to have legal marriages. But they left the Negro, in one sense, even more at the mercy of the whites than the slave codes, which had given him at least the powerful voice of his owner, bent on protecting a valuable piece of property.” (Pg. 130)
He recounts, “[Booker T.] Washington was aware that many Negroes resented industrial education, connecting it with slavery. But the type of education he advocated developed character as well as mechanical skills. In 1907 Washington stated that he had made careful investigation and had not found a single Tuskegee graduate ‘within the walls of any penitentiary in the United States.’ Though by no means the originator of vocational education, in his day Washington was its greatest exponent in America. Moreover, his influence outstripped that of anyone else. Before making gifts to Negro colleges, prospective white donors sought Washington’s assurance that their monies would be earmarked for his kind of education. Struggling Negro colleges were only too anxious to add trades to the curriculum in order to get badly needed funds.” (Pg. 167)
He states, “A Negro who got an important letter from Washington D.C., invariably owed his good fortune to something that had been done by the Washington from Tuskegee. No Negro ever equalled Washington in influencing the political patronage involved in naming Negroes to federal posts. Washington has strong contacts at the White House, three successive Republican occupants holding him in high esteem.” (Pg. 170)
He comments, “The postwar [WWI] restlessness of the colored American found expression in the so-called Negro Renaissance, a creative outpouring in literature, art, and music… the Negro Renaissance was distinctive in two major respects: as an effort to articulate the discontent of the Negro… Negro writers and artists made a deliberate effort to cease aping others and to produce work that might be racial in theme but that would also be universal in depth and appeal. The sought to be writers, not Negro writers… There would be, however, no catering to whites. All the writers of the Negro Renaissance agreed on one canon: the use of dialect was taboo. Their objection was… to the literary and topical limitations it imposed.” (Pg. 199)
He concludes, “black Americans had increasingly given evidences of a purposefulness and an inner strength that should have been as exhilarant to whites as it was to blacks themselves… the passionate rhetoric of the black militant and much of the riot behavior of the slum dweller alike find their motivation in a desire for equal justice and equal opportunity, themes as American as one could wish.” (Pg. 290)
This book will be of great interest to those studying African-American history.
November 20, 2025
Dr. Benjamin Quarles is one of the first, African-American historians to publish a series of scholarly works on the role of African Americans in shaping America. Born in 1908, Quarles originally attended the first historically black college, Shaw University, in the South and graduated in 1931. Quarles would later earn his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1933 and 1940 respectively. Quarles became a professor of history at Shaw University, Dillard University and later Morgan State University. During his time he would go on to publish 10 books and 23 articles on African American History - one of the most prolific scholars of African American History.
The Negro in the Making of America was originally published in 1969 and was expanded in it’s 1984 edition. This particular edition included analysis of the effects of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of militant groups such as the Black Panthers. Previously, Dr. Quarles had published several works on the African American role in the Revolution and Civil War. He also focused his research on Frederick Douglas. In this particular work, Dr. Quarles becomes, to my knowledge, one of the first African American historians to ambitiously cover the slave trade of 1619 in Africa as it pertained to the United States, to their role in Revolutionary War, Civil War, Reconstruction South, World War I and II, and the postwar America.
The scope of Quarles’s book is large, but feels tightly bound by a theme of dialectics. Quarles traces how Americans justified the enslavement, and later disenfranchisement of African Americans through social, political, and economic institutions. However, what Quarles does well is conveying how African Americans built their own institutions. whether it be financial or educational, to challenge the existing power structure at the time period of each chapter. Interestingly, Quarles spends a lot of time focusing on the role African Americans played in every American conflict, and their role in war time operations. Prior to Quarles, historians downplayed the role of African Americans in the military operations from the Revolutionary War onward. The fact remains that African Americans have fought in every American War -whether by choice or not by choice. Furthermore, Quarles might have been the first historian to note that having African Americans in fighting and leadership positions would mobilize civil rights actions upon these soldiers returning to civilian life.
From a scholarly point of view, the only criticism I have of Quarles writing is that he includes a selected bibliography to strengthen his historical analysis, but he does not use a work cited. I trust that Quarles is interpreting primary source documents accurately in terms of context, but it would have been nice from a reading perspective to have a works cited/foot note citation in some cases to see what Quarles was drawing from; especially for topics in the text that I was not as familiar with. It’s possible that that is just a petty criticism, since the book is a primer on African American History.
Dr. Benjamin Quarles died of a heart attack in 1995. His legacy is the body of work on the African American experience in America is revolutionary from the understanding that it is a history that went largely ignored, and possibly could have proved detrimental to his career. Quarles’s work tore down barriers the historical community has placed intentionally or unintentionally to make a group of people forget their roots and contributions. That is truly his legacy.
The Negro in the Making of America was originally published in 1969 and was expanded in it’s 1984 edition. This particular edition included analysis of the effects of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of militant groups such as the Black Panthers. Previously, Dr. Quarles had published several works on the African American role in the Revolution and Civil War. He also focused his research on Frederick Douglas. In this particular work, Dr. Quarles becomes, to my knowledge, one of the first African American historians to ambitiously cover the slave trade of 1619 in Africa as it pertained to the United States, to their role in Revolutionary War, Civil War, Reconstruction South, World War I and II, and the postwar America.
The scope of Quarles’s book is large, but feels tightly bound by a theme of dialectics. Quarles traces how Americans justified the enslavement, and later disenfranchisement of African Americans through social, political, and economic institutions. However, what Quarles does well is conveying how African Americans built their own institutions. whether it be financial or educational, to challenge the existing power structure at the time period of each chapter. Interestingly, Quarles spends a lot of time focusing on the role African Americans played in every American conflict, and their role in war time operations. Prior to Quarles, historians downplayed the role of African Americans in the military operations from the Revolutionary War onward. The fact remains that African Americans have fought in every American War -whether by choice or not by choice. Furthermore, Quarles might have been the first historian to note that having African Americans in fighting and leadership positions would mobilize civil rights actions upon these soldiers returning to civilian life.
From a scholarly point of view, the only criticism I have of Quarles writing is that he includes a selected bibliography to strengthen his historical analysis, but he does not use a work cited. I trust that Quarles is interpreting primary source documents accurately in terms of context, but it would have been nice from a reading perspective to have a works cited/foot note citation in some cases to see what Quarles was drawing from; especially for topics in the text that I was not as familiar with. It’s possible that that is just a petty criticism, since the book is a primer on African American History.
Dr. Benjamin Quarles died of a heart attack in 1995. His legacy is the body of work on the African American experience in America is revolutionary from the understanding that it is a history that went largely ignored, and possibly could have proved detrimental to his career. Quarles’s work tore down barriers the historical community has placed intentionally or unintentionally to make a group of people forget their roots and contributions. That is truly his legacy.
April 6, 2012
LoRee Thomas
Hon. Humanities
4/6/12
The protagonist of the story is Melinda Sordino. Melinda was starting off in high school and she is holding a secret from her peers. There was a summer party, that Melinda attended were she was raped by a senior. Later that night she was drunk and called the police. Although Melinda left before the police appeared. Now her peers and other students believe that Melinda called the police on the party, on that night. Most of the students are mad at her, even some of her friends from middle school of good friends from middle school. Melinda has told no one, not even her parents. Throughout Melinda’s life now she is now depressed, and barely speaks, and very social awkward. Her parents think she's going through some awful phase. But later throughout the story Andy, the boy who raped Melinda is now dating a girl named Rachel, and are headed to Senior prom together. Melinda knowing this warned her successfully then Rachel had broken up with Andy publicly. Afterwards Andy retrieves back to Melinda attempting to rape her once again, but Melinda stands up for herself by breaking a mirror and then holding the glass up against his neck just in time for the lacrosse team to interfere, and Andy is now caught.
In my opinion this book was very good, I did enjoy the ending of self realization and determination to take a stand against a cause so no one else will have to experience the hatred, which overall supports the theme of the book. This book did move me and it did this by inspiring me to stand up for what’s right. it also taught me to inform others I say these meaning teach others about harmful things that could effect your life, and overall helping others. If there were someone in need or in trouble find a way to help their situation if possible.
I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 this book, is easier to relate to as a high schooler, and how she talked about the pros and cons of her scheduled classes In this book the writer display the characteristics of the protagonist very accurately. I would recommend this book to those in high school especially younger high schoolers such as sophomores and freshman it is easy to relate and to understand to what extent she was being hurt, and how it affects the mind.
Hon. Humanities
4/6/12
The protagonist of the story is Melinda Sordino. Melinda was starting off in high school and she is holding a secret from her peers. There was a summer party, that Melinda attended were she was raped by a senior. Later that night she was drunk and called the police. Although Melinda left before the police appeared. Now her peers and other students believe that Melinda called the police on the party, on that night. Most of the students are mad at her, even some of her friends from middle school of good friends from middle school. Melinda has told no one, not even her parents. Throughout Melinda’s life now she is now depressed, and barely speaks, and very social awkward. Her parents think she's going through some awful phase. But later throughout the story Andy, the boy who raped Melinda is now dating a girl named Rachel, and are headed to Senior prom together. Melinda knowing this warned her successfully then Rachel had broken up with Andy publicly. Afterwards Andy retrieves back to Melinda attempting to rape her once again, but Melinda stands up for herself by breaking a mirror and then holding the glass up against his neck just in time for the lacrosse team to interfere, and Andy is now caught.
In my opinion this book was very good, I did enjoy the ending of self realization and determination to take a stand against a cause so no one else will have to experience the hatred, which overall supports the theme of the book. This book did move me and it did this by inspiring me to stand up for what’s right. it also taught me to inform others I say these meaning teach others about harmful things that could effect your life, and overall helping others. If there were someone in need or in trouble find a way to help their situation if possible.
I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 this book, is easier to relate to as a high schooler, and how she talked about the pros and cons of her scheduled classes In this book the writer display the characteristics of the protagonist very accurately. I would recommend this book to those in high school especially younger high schoolers such as sophomores and freshman it is easy to relate and to understand to what extent she was being hurt, and how it affects the mind.
July 1, 2015
i highly recommend this book. i wish this type of information were incorporated into American History classes. this book ends in 1985,,,,, 30 years later the black american definitely has had some victories, however the struggle continues.
June 2, 2017
Eye-opening book.
June 17, 2016
Very good and very informative
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews