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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
How did I get here?,
By The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Church Boy (Paperback)
CHURCH BOY by Connie G. Barrett is a coming-of-age story of a young man caught in the mean streets of East St. Louis. Cordell, the product of a hard working mother and a missing father, decides to try marijuana one day. Later, when he attempts to pay the drug dealer for the dope, he is attacked by the dealer and his friends and told that he 'owes' them. Cordell runs away through alleys, backyards and abandoned houses and fortunately runs up on the church van. He quickly jumps aboard, goes to church and that night he gets saved. Cordell spends a great deal of time in church after that. He is good at music, joins the choir and also masterminds a musical for the church. The choir director is a rather mean and angry woman and Cordell does have some rough spots but he doesn't give up.
Meanwhile, at home, his little brother is heading down the same path he had gone; his older sister won't have anything to do with the church and his younger sister just may be straying also. Tossed into the mix is his best friend, Westside, another fatherless young man with a judgmental family who attends the same church. Both Cordell and Westside are having the growing pains of all teenage boys and they handle some situations well and mess others up. Finally Westside makes a move that gets the gang members trying to kill him and the action picks up dramatically. Will Westside survive the most vicious gang in East St. Louis? Will Cordell find him in time to save his life? Barrett's book is an interesting look at the church of today. Her conclusions about how to handle the church members are exceptional. I wish I had seen this book earlier. The writing is smooth, non-preachy and interesting but there could be more tension in the various conflicts that Cordell and Westside face. The novel had a nice, even pace but would have been more captivating if the action had been quicker. The main characters were well developed and it was easy to identify with them and their issues. I would recommend this book to a wide audience, especially young, black men and church folks. Reviewed by Alice Holman of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
3.0 out of 5 stars
CH- -CH! What's Missing?,
By
This review is from: Church Boy (Paperback)
Church Boy deals eloquently with a subject that people don't normally discuss openly - attending church. Attending church and choosing a belief is a very personal choice, so dealing with the wide range of emotion that comes with being a church member in good standing hasn't really been tackled in the fiction world. It is also refreshing to know that Church Boy centers on a man's experiences in church. Many woman who attend church Sunday after Sunday often bemoan the fact that men aren't in attendance- church lacks the strong male presence outside of the married pastor. True enough we may be going to church for the wrong reasons if taking a head count of the single men is the primary objective, but there is a disparity in the numbers between the sexes. Cordell Armstrong is the man who has found the courage in his convictions and admittedly found the strength to attend church while making a getaway to save his life. To escape from thugs who clearly mean to do more harm than good, he hops on the church van on its way to revival. Constricted because he vowed that church just wasn't his thing, and realizing that there was no way to escape the final destination, he thought that at least he would please his mother by making an appearance. Teased unmercifully on the van, because he had such profound stuttering, he couldn't wait for the van to arrive at church and for church to be over but something happened during the revival that would forever change the course of Cordell's life, he was saved. If that wasn't enough, he was also delivered from stuttering. Life changed for Cordell after he found that God loved him and cared enough about him to change the way he talked. His deliverance so impressed his friend Westside, that he joined church and accepted Christ as well. His mother was proud of her son, for she taught all of her children that peace abided within the church, but clearly left the choice for pursuit to them. Life for these two young men, who were raised in the midst of chaos and turmoil changed with the addition of church and its wide variety of events and services designed to keep those that belonged to church, in church. As the story progresses we find that Church Boy has all the elements of a story that will keep you reading: an innocent romance; scandal in the church; rejection of an absent parent; siblings coming to terms with who they are; struggle; triumph; and defeat. Cordell and his family-his mother, two sisters, younger brother and Westside - transcend the pages of Church Boy to make a subject that isn't discussed, very interesting. This novel says a lot of things that people think but don't verbalize-keeping it real, and that is a refreshing tone. The frank discussions that the family has, the independence that the mother allows her children when it comes to their personal relationship with God and the church are insightful. I appreciate a book that is well written, devoid of grammatical errors and full of interesting views on subjects that I normally take for granted.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Finding God...,
By Flavah Reviewer (Winston Salem, NC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Church Boy (Paperback)
The child of a God-fearing mother, Cordell Armstrong and his siblings were raised in the church. But unlike his mother, Melissa, Cordell has never had any reason to believe in the God that she serves. That is, until trouble on the streets finds Cordell hitching a ride on the church bus. In a temporary effort to seek sanctuary from the mean streets and a chap named Ivan, Cordell's life is about to be dramatically altered. Cordell's transformation sends shock waves throughout the school and his community. Cordell freely shares his newfound gift of salvation with his best friend, Westside, who is in need of some spiritual healing of his own. Initially the two young men find solace in their burgeoning relationship with the church. But like many new converts, Cordell and Westside have made a serious error in judgment. Going to church is one thing, but cultivating a relationship with God is an entirely different ball of wax. As Cordell and Westside learn how to juggle the demands of life, jobs, and new love interests, they also must deal with the reality outside of the church walls. Simply going to church will not garner you automatic admittance into the Kingdom, Cordell and Westside must enter into the church without walls. It is there that they will find the missing pieces, the commitment to God resides in the soul, not in brick and mortar. Rosalind Stormer, author of "Healing The Breach"
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