this one is about a interracial couple in connecticut in the 1950's...ms petry manages to handle this story with a cool handle never allow it to become merely tabloid fodder..some of the other plots that were interesting was link's relationship with bill hod, who was practically his father and the butler who marries a promisculous heavy-set black women...

The Narrows was written in 1953. Amazing. Timeless love story of a Dartmouth grad of history who happens to be black and a rich married heiress who happens to be white. Their lives intersect one night in Harlem and continue down a dangerous road of love, passion, and retribution. The star of the book is Link Williams, a young man adopted at the age of eight by Abbie Crunch and the Major. When the Major dies, Link feels invisible and finds a new home in the Last Chance bar where Bill Hod becomes his surrogate father, teaching Link what it means to be a man, a black man.

He grows up strong and intelligent, but faltering in one area. The area of love. The woman that he chooses, the one he wants to marry unbeknownst to him is already married. Worst of all she is white. This breaks many hearts, the people who have loved him and taken care of him, Abbie Crunch, Weak Knees, Bill Hod, and the rest of the Last Chance patrons where Link is the heart and soul, all watch as he make this fatal mistake.

Phenomenal writing, literature, pure art without the sensationalism that is prevalent in our books today.

I could not believe how wonderful the writing was in this book..I could see the grass blowing in the wind..I am reading & re-reading the Negro Classics..the books by Langston Hughes, Arna Bontempts & others...I will TREASURE this book forever.

Harriet Tubman was a wonderful women and this book hits the highlights of her life. This book explains her life while she was still conducter on the Underground Railroad but it also goes into detail about her life after she was a conducter. It is a wonderful story too! It did not seem like a factual novel but actually seemed like a wonderful story. I hope everyone will try to read this book.

This is a good book to read if you're interested in non-fiction books. This book was given to me and my book members in Mrs. Shea's class. We were doing Literature Circles and Mrs. Shea gave my group this book to do it on. It's a good book to read if you're bored, and you may even learn something. So maybe you could put it on you're summer reading list.
I liked this book because the adventure and the daring rescues. I liked the first time she ran away because it showed courage and the determination to be free. Many slaves in history showed this, even though they didn't know where to go. After she reached North, she went back after sometime and rescued more and more slaves. The journeys were dangerous, but Harriet went on with determination to help the slaves be free. Now, I'll talk about what I disliked about the book.
One thing I disliked about this book was that in every Chapter in the end, there's a passage that informs you on a person in the chapter. I find this very annoying and I skipped it after I read each chapter. I also disliked it when Harriet first tried to run away with her three brothers. Her brothers betrayed her and made her go back. Also, I don't like Mr. Tubman, a free Negro. He had said to Harriet that if she ran away, he would betray her. These are the parts I didn't like about the book.

The book is about a girl who had an unusual life as a child. Harriet Tubman suffered a lot during her life time. She risked her life to help slaves and take them to the North. If you like adventure and a very descriptive book you should read it. You learn and experience what it was like during her time.Harriet Tubman never gave up. I especially liked how the book had historical facts at the end of each chapter to explain what was going on during her events. It was an interesting and exciting book, a page turner. You don't have to like history to read this book. You'll get hooked anyway.

This book gave me a lot of background about the Salem Witch trials. It was very imaginative and I liked the way the characters seemed like real people, especially Mercy Lewis and Tituba. Abigail was a real piece of work. I think Goody Good really was a witch, and the way Ann Petry describes her with her cackling laugh and the evil smell she leaves everywhere makes me think the author wants you to think that. This makes me wonder if some of the people who were accused as witches really were witches. It was sad to see what life was like for slaves like John and Tituba. One thing I didn't like about the book was that it made New England seem cold and depressing, and I've read other books that made me wish that I'd been born back in Colonial days because people worked together and had a lot of fun, even though life was hard.

Tituba of Salem Village was a good book. It taught me about history. This book showed me how the slaves would act and live. While i was reading it, I wanted to warn the characters, "Don't do it!" and "Be quite!" This book is mostly about a girl named Abigail, a preacher's niece, who is doing witchcraft. Then Tituba and other girls start getting accused of witchcraft. This has to do with history because it goes with the Salem Witch Trials. The part of the book that I disliked was the whole chapter about firewood. I believe the best part was when Tituba read the tarot cards for the girls.

Tituba

This book, published in the early sixties centers around a slave woman who during the Salem Witch Trials is tried as a witch. While the book itself is written in a fashion that made me wonder if I were reading something intended for young adults, it does hold water. The story is reasonably compelling and has enough intricacies of characters and betrayals to engage the reader. It telegraphs itself from a mile away, yes, that simplicity of form making it a story that doesn’t demand nor deceive.

Tituba comes across as not so much foolish but as trapped by her circumstances. She is the property of a family, lead by a reverend of stern character in charge of white children who know that they have power over their adult caretaker. The mistress of the house spends all of her time sick and therefore powerless so the role of caretaker without authority falls to Tituba. For a book set during slavery, the subject of personal freedom isn’t addressed here because that’s not what this book is about. It’s about a further removal of rights and personal power through the witch-hunts. Tituba, through a series of first seemingly innocent events and then gradually darker, is trapped to becoming a witch on trial. Only when she is accused of being a witch does it really grind home the trap that slavery has her in. She cannot flee, she barely has rights to speak up for herself and because of race, is already half-condemned. It becomes literally her slave workman skills that bring her “friends” who will testify on her behalf, give her value over the other women on trial who are merely seen as witches.

This book is an easy read, less than a couple of hours, closer to being like a short story in it’s simplistic form and intent. The adventure of the read is the twist ending. Being a slave saves Tituba so that she can return to slavery. A dark irony that strikes home when one begins comparing what was the greater evil and how one evil can save a person from another by enshrouding them. Here, slavery is a helper, unfortunately. Luckily, it is made clear by the force of witch-hunt story that this is not a book about slavery, pro or con. It is about a woman, a Black woman, who is a slave in a culture that persecutes all of its inhabitants in any way possible for being different or having new ideas. In the end, this book is about the cruelty of humans, in so many forms---bigotry, misogyny, racism, etc..

Four stars

This book, "The Street," was, as many have written, an intriguing insight into the culture in which the book is set. The reader is allowed to follow the main character Lutie through the perils of daily life in Harlem. The setting of a hard-knock life in the streets gives the reader a look at a life that very likely has little in common with their own. This is the book's best characteristic. This setting, along with the extensive character development, make this book well worth reading but perhaps a little overhyped. With what is in my opinion a rather abrupt and disappointing ending as well as an overabundance of details Ann Petry makes what could've been one of the great books of the twentieth century simply a good book.

I found this book to be very interesting and well written. Learning about the lifestyle of inner city people back in the 1940's was very intriging. From the casino lifestyle, to a rich family, and back to life on "the street", this book never lost my attention. As you read this book, you travel through the minds of three people who are all caught in some predicament or another. it is interesting to see how it all turns out in the end. I would recommend this classic to anyone.

About a year ago, I was given this novel as a gift. My busy work and life schedules prohibited me from reading it until a few days ago. Once I picked it up, I could not put it down. What a wonderfully written story. This novel is a must read. I am still devastated and heart broken over the ending but a story doesn't have to have a happy ending in order to be good. Ms. Petry writes such vivid and colorful descriptions. The picture she paints educates the reader to the reality of life in the 1940's for black people. This one will touch your heart and soul. You will cry and ask yourself repeatedly if Lutie and Bub will ever be able to leave 'The Street'. I strongly recommend giving this one as a gift to someone you know. I know I am.

i liked it a lot. but some words where hard for me.