Reading Daddy Was A Number Runner for the second time as an adult was like visiting an old friend. I first read the novel when I was in junior high and the only thing I remembered from it was this freaky movie theater scene. That and the fact that it was good. Now that I am grown, I took a lot more away from it this time.

Francie is twelve and growing up in 1930's Harlem. She has two older brothers who have totally different aspirations in life. One wants to be a hoodlum and the other wants to quit school to become an undertaker. Her father, a number runner of course, is too proud to go onto public assistance and that causes a lot of turmoil between her parents. She has a best friend that likes to beat her up most of the time. Old white men try to feel her up whenever they get a chance. Francie really endures a lot for a person her age. If you are into period novels, this is a must read because it gives insight in a generation we know nothing about.

From beginning to end, the book was enjoyable. Brutally honest and very mature, but an excellent read. Many times hit close to home, others were a learning experience (like the use of rags, the electric hair on juveniles, etc.) It was a quick read that I didn't want to finish!

Daddy Was A Number Runner provides a horrific historical and sociological picture of Harlem during the 1930's post-Renaissance era. The reader travels throughout the daily trials and tribulations of Francie Coffin, an adolescent girl living with her brothers, mother and father, who is a number runner.

Statistically we know of the crime, deviance, poverty, fatherless homes and emerging welfare system but what we do not read about is the human elements; the feelings involved. Through Francie's own words and her dreams we are able to feel and capture Francie's plight. While Francie appears to be somewhat naïve she is also able to navigate the streets and people within Harlem. Francie serves as an errand girl for her father, gets into scuffles with her friend and is a victim of molestation. On the positive side she is an obedient daughter and sister, attends school and she loves to read. For Francie, reading and attending movies at the theater is her salvation from the madness.

The book goes one step further to examine Black and Jewish relationships. These relationships are presented in the form of tenant/landlord, student/teacher, customer/business owner and domestic/employer and in each, the black characters appear to be the victims. While not harboring resentment towards Jews as a group, the characters demonstrate a dislike towards the individual because in each example the Black character is shown to be subservient towards the Jewish character for survival.

The characters portrayed are captivating and one of the books largest strengths is the ability of Meriwether to show some positive aspects of the inhabitants. Through all of this despair we find love, kindness and support of family and neighbors, male pride, the importance of education, and compassion. The word community resonates throughout this story and the women are the backbone of this community.

There is no happily ever after and everything is not neatly fixed at the conclusion for there is no conclusion. What we have is Francie's acceptance of her life and her community but also her ability to still dream of a different life. Meriwether has provided the reader with an assessment in the life of a small community but does not place blame on one entity. We, the reader, are able to empathize because Daddy Was A Number Runner offers a lesson in history that is relevant today. This is a story of family and the survival of it.

Fragments of the Ark is a novel that reminded me of the subject matter I had seen in the movies "Glory" and "The Autobiography from Miss Jane Pittman". Only this time, the author educates and enlightens the reader through the eyes of the lead character, Peter Mango. We journey from the Civil War Army and Navy skirmishes along coastal South Carolina to the political battles waged in the White House. The uniqueness of the tale is it is told from the African-American point of view and the author does a good job sticking to the facts and of divulging how former slaves and freedmen fought for their rights and freedom during a very tumultuous time.

The story opens with Mango, a riverboat pilot forced into service by the Confederate Navy, orchestrating a nighttime flight to freedom by impersonating the Captain of the Confederate gunboat and taking the slave crew and their families to freedom by surrendering the ship to the Union Navy. He becomes a war hero and serves with the Union eventually being promoted to Captain of the stolen ship. His adventures are shared and history is told with a colorful cast of characters-all of whom are virtually in the same situation but each individual deals uniquely with their emotions when human issues such as separation from family; reclamation of lost family; freedom from slavery; fear of recapture and return to slavery, the legacy of master/slave relationships, etc. surface throughout the novel. We also see Peter and the cast dealing with the confusion and unfairness of the Confederate and Union government's fluctuating policies and ordinances of the era. She really conveys the realism and anguish that the African Americans of the time must have felt as a result of the attitude and treatment toward black soldiers, Lincoln's positions regarding the slaves, and the politics of the antebellum South that severely disenfranchised former slaves.

Meriweather does not sugar-coat the atrocities of war and the inhumanity of slavery, instead she recounts documented history in such a way that the reader feels the fear that stems from the uncertainty, hatred, and anxiety of the slave character's environment. Laced with historical accounts, the novel substantiates the important role the black soldiers played in the Civil War and in American History. The reader also lifts from the pages the resolve and determination of an oppressed people--people who were tired of being abused, people who embraced freedom, people who were determined to prove their worth, people who sought justice and equality, and people who were willing to die to obtain it.

This novel should be read by more people. It was a great work of historical fiction that made my heart smile for the Africans working/fighting for freedom during the Civil War. Based on true events, this novel should make all Americans proud.

I couldn't put the book down and I ended up finishing the book within a week from receiving it from this website. I really got a taste of how it was back during the American Revolution between the North and South. Also, how the slaves were treated and how they escaped from the South to become cadets and fight for peace. I give Louise Meriwether much luck in her future books, if any, and I'll look out for them so I can read them as well.

I picked up this book because according to the display in my local library, it's a great new African-American women's novel. I actually forced myself to finish it because I wanted to make sure I wasn't judging it unfairly. Basically, I wouldn't suggest anyone waste his/her time on this book--it was not particularly well-written (the dialogue was stilted, the narration constantly said explicitly what could have been implied or shown to the reader in a more interesting way); the plot was incredibly contrived (drama after drama happens--to reveal here that there's a car crash, a near-mugging, a death in a gunshot robbery, a meningitis scare, and lots of post-traumatic stress syndrome doesn't spoil any of the pleasure of the book), and the characters were never three-dimensional enough for me to care about them.

I thoroughly enjoyed Shadow Dancing. The characters were realistic, dealing with mature problems of love and guilt and vulnerability. From the very beginning I was drawn into the story, feeling connected to Glenda, the main character, and remained enthralled throughout. The writing is also exceptional. A very good read.

Shadow dancing is the up and down marriage of Glenda and Mark. The marriage has problems that include, Glend's insecurities, Mark's ex wife, and the lost of his beloved job. What happened to Mark at the end was a shock and unexpected. I throught this book was good, in that in didn't end with the fairytale ending that most romance books do.