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South Town
"A true-to-life novel about the troubles and triumphs of a warmhearted family in the rural south."
-taken from front cover-
-taken from front cover-
141 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 31, 2017
During the time before The Civil Rights Movement, there was a lot of discrimination toward black people. The African Americans, at this point, could not do anything about it. South Town is a story about one of these injustices. I think that this book is historical fiction, and that it is more of a journal written as a story. The book is great for historical fiction, but a fully made plot can not be expected. A major theme could be hatred, which can be shown in this part of the book"
This book takes place in a small town named South Town. The book starts with David Williams who is a black kid, and his sister Betty Jane, walking to school, late. As they were walking, a woman stops by them, and offers the kids a ride to school, after the ride, the woman gives the principal of the school money for painting the school. While the painting was being done, the superintendent of the school arrives and stated that the painting was done without permission, but still let the people paint the school. After that, David, along with his friend, Ben Crawford go swimming. However, during that time, Harold Boyd, a white kid that David doesn't like, and doesn't like David, arrives with his friends, to also go swimming. Harold did not want to go into the pool, and at one point, he and his friends go to a river to swim there instead, but end up getting Harold's cousin, who is nicknamed Little Red, or Red, trapped in the river. David eventually risks his own life to save Red. This news spreads fast, which leads to Harold's father, Mr.Boyd to give work to David. David accepts the work, and begins work at a mechanic shop. David has a few co-workers that are white, but do not harass David, and take him more as a friend. At one point, one of his friends, Travis, a war veteran gets fired for the things he said. Around the time when summer is ending, Mr.Boyd asks David if he will still be working, and David responds by saying that he wants to go to school to become a doctor. This angers Mr.Boyd, and tells David that he is fired, and will kill him, and his father if saw them on his property. Later, a few officers come to David's house to take their guns, which were used for hunting and defense away. Some time after that, David found out that his father was in jail. One of David's friends, came and told David that someone had told the police that David's father did something bad, and also said to take away his family's guns. His friend also explained that the reason the guns were taken is so that they would be defenseless, because people were going to attack them. David gathered his friends and waited. When the ambush finally arrived, they went off after noticing that they had people defending. After they left, a car arrived and shot Travis in the head, killing him. There was no way to fight back. This made the police investigate, which eventually made this have a court case, freeing everyone who was involved..People told David's family to leave for safety reasons. David's family eventually did move and the story ended.
This book has a third-person point of view, which affects the story because thoughts and feelings of people were not shown, adding a mystery as to why the characters are how they are. The text said "He could not understand what had gotten into Mr.Boyd. All the summer the man had been pretty decent."A major event that changed the character, and the one that probably flipped the story around was when David told Mr.Boyd that he wanted to become a doctor, which infuriated Mr.Boyd, causing David's roll of luck to come to a stop. Along to that, that part of the story was the part that brought up several things that led up to David leaving South Town. The title of the book relates to the title since the title is the name of the place David is living in. The setting of the book is important to the story because the rural south is why the story is named South town, also because it is in America, and before the discrimination ended, which is important, and gives a few reasons as to why people hate David and his folks. The narrator seems to be more neutral than reliable or unreliable, since the narrator does not show any feelings of the characters, nor any of their motives, while also providing things that can help understand the story more. The setting adds to the Conflict by making those who were supposed to help, or those who should have stayed neutral(policemen, David's co-workers, Mr.Boyd, etc) either the antagonist or a good character. A major symbol in this story is change. The author's word choice makes it seem as if he is not in the story. The author builds tension by adding the troubles that David has been facing in South Town, which eventually lead to him leaving South Town
I was surprised when David told Mr.Boyd that he wanted to become a doctor, which made Boyd really mad. The book stated'You know,' David said, with his voice not nearly as full as he would have liked it, 'I want to become a doctor' 'Doctor! Doctor!' Mr.Boyd's face was red, and the corners of his mouth turned down as is he tasted something unpleasant." This example shows something that can't really be explained. I was disappointed when Mr.Boyd still hasn't changed, even when his chances to make David's family unsuccessful have failed, and that he is still mean. I was, however satisfied with the part when David's family moved, since there have been a lot of unfortunate events, and I wanted some way to rid of them. My favorite part of the story was during the end, when David lost his problems, but it came at a cost, which made me appreciate the story more. I thought the ending of the book to be frustrating, satisfying, yet necessary, which makes my satisfaction and frustration go down a little because a reason was given to do so.
I would rate this book four stars out of five. While it is a good book, some things in the story were unnecessary, and sometimes a little confusing. I would recommend this book to people who are into historical fiction, or for those searching for things about discrimination towards blacks. Overall, this book is about the story of a kid who has been hit with several problems.
This book takes place in a small town named South Town. The book starts with David Williams who is a black kid, and his sister Betty Jane, walking to school, late. As they were walking, a woman stops by them, and offers the kids a ride to school, after the ride, the woman gives the principal of the school money for painting the school. While the painting was being done, the superintendent of the school arrives and stated that the painting was done without permission, but still let the people paint the school. After that, David, along with his friend, Ben Crawford go swimming. However, during that time, Harold Boyd, a white kid that David doesn't like, and doesn't like David, arrives with his friends, to also go swimming. Harold did not want to go into the pool, and at one point, he and his friends go to a river to swim there instead, but end up getting Harold's cousin, who is nicknamed Little Red, or Red, trapped in the river. David eventually risks his own life to save Red. This news spreads fast, which leads to Harold's father, Mr.Boyd to give work to David. David accepts the work, and begins work at a mechanic shop. David has a few co-workers that are white, but do not harass David, and take him more as a friend. At one point, one of his friends, Travis, a war veteran gets fired for the things he said. Around the time when summer is ending, Mr.Boyd asks David if he will still be working, and David responds by saying that he wants to go to school to become a doctor. This angers Mr.Boyd, and tells David that he is fired, and will kill him, and his father if saw them on his property. Later, a few officers come to David's house to take their guns, which were used for hunting and defense away. Some time after that, David found out that his father was in jail. One of David's friends, came and told David that someone had told the police that David's father did something bad, and also said to take away his family's guns. His friend also explained that the reason the guns were taken is so that they would be defenseless, because people were going to attack them. David gathered his friends and waited. When the ambush finally arrived, they went off after noticing that they had people defending. After they left, a car arrived and shot Travis in the head, killing him. There was no way to fight back. This made the police investigate, which eventually made this have a court case, freeing everyone who was involved..People told David's family to leave for safety reasons. David's family eventually did move and the story ended.
This book has a third-person point of view, which affects the story because thoughts and feelings of people were not shown, adding a mystery as to why the characters are how they are. The text said "He could not understand what had gotten into Mr.Boyd. All the summer the man had been pretty decent."A major event that changed the character, and the one that probably flipped the story around was when David told Mr.Boyd that he wanted to become a doctor, which infuriated Mr.Boyd, causing David's roll of luck to come to a stop. Along to that, that part of the story was the part that brought up several things that led up to David leaving South Town. The title of the book relates to the title since the title is the name of the place David is living in. The setting of the book is important to the story because the rural south is why the story is named South town, also because it is in America, and before the discrimination ended, which is important, and gives a few reasons as to why people hate David and his folks. The narrator seems to be more neutral than reliable or unreliable, since the narrator does not show any feelings of the characters, nor any of their motives, while also providing things that can help understand the story more. The setting adds to the Conflict by making those who were supposed to help, or those who should have stayed neutral(policemen, David's co-workers, Mr.Boyd, etc) either the antagonist or a good character. A major symbol in this story is change. The author's word choice makes it seem as if he is not in the story. The author builds tension by adding the troubles that David has been facing in South Town, which eventually lead to him leaving South Town
I was surprised when David told Mr.Boyd that he wanted to become a doctor, which made Boyd really mad. The book stated'You know,' David said, with his voice not nearly as full as he would have liked it, 'I want to become a doctor' 'Doctor! Doctor!' Mr.Boyd's face was red, and the corners of his mouth turned down as is he tasted something unpleasant." This example shows something that can't really be explained. I was disappointed when Mr.Boyd still hasn't changed, even when his chances to make David's family unsuccessful have failed, and that he is still mean. I was, however satisfied with the part when David's family moved, since there have been a lot of unfortunate events, and I wanted some way to rid of them. My favorite part of the story was during the end, when David lost his problems, but it came at a cost, which made me appreciate the story more. I thought the ending of the book to be frustrating, satisfying, yet necessary, which makes my satisfaction and frustration go down a little because a reason was given to do so.
I would rate this book four stars out of five. While it is a good book, some things in the story were unnecessary, and sometimes a little confusing. I would recommend this book to people who are into historical fiction, or for those searching for things about discrimination towards blacks. Overall, this book is about the story of a kid who has been hit with several problems.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2024
It's a story about a teenage boy and his family who live in a small town called South Town. Because of the racism, they had to face troubles in their life.
October 5, 2009
errrrr,cant give alot of details,i rember it was boring,but had some good parts,but a well wrote,and pretty good
September 17, 2016
Although it's a great story, I was distracted by the preponderance of "telling" within the narrative. Still, a worthwhile read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews