Customer Reviews

Family Ties

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ernest Hill first introduced D'Ray Reid in A Life for a Life. Family Ties continues the story with a redeemed D'Ray. He had been taken in by Mr. Henry, the man who's son he killed, and completed college. When Mr. Henry dies D'Ray is convinced to go home and make things right with his own mother, Mira. What he finds is his brother, Curtis, about to go to prison for a crime those who know him don't believe he committed several years earlier. D'Ray tries to help his brother thus giving the story an element of mystery. Mira stills sees her son as the reason for her family's troubles and she will not forgive him for this.
Typically we find stories in which young males repair their relationship with their father so, it was a bit of a change for this character to try to make things right with his mother. While Mira's character was not well developed in this book, we get to know her well enough as a mother to want D'Ray and Curtis to just walk away from her. Turning your back on your mother is not an easy thing to do and Hill never really gives closure to this relationship, leaving the possibility for a third book.
Curtis and D'Ray give young men reasons and examples of leaving the past behind to become men who make positive contributions to society. While they have educations, jobs and girlfriends they do remember where they've come from and are never judgemental and never avoid people they've always known. It's a good story for junior and senior students who are transitioning to adult lit. Young men may be surprised to see a character who reconnects with a love interest from the past but refuses to even stay too late at her home to avoid looking inappropriate. I like that Family Ties gives allows readers to consider different ways of handling situations.

D'Ray Reid made some wrong choices in his life; one which cost him jail time. While trying to save his younger brother, D'Ray shot and killed Mr. Henry's son. After D'Ray's release from jail Mr. Henry, being a forgiving man, took D'Ray into his home and raised him to be the man he was intended to be. Although D'Ray took something so precious away from Mr. Henry, he gave him back happiness and a reason to go on. After Mr. Henry's passing, D'Ray returns home to make amends with his mother, who in her eyes was nothing but trouble and hard for her to love.

Lil Man, D'Ray's younger brother is convicted of a crime he didn't commit. He escapes from jail and goes into hiding. He quickly needs to get out of town because he knows about the illegal activities going on and the parties involved want to do him bodily harm. D'Ray's mother wants him to help his brother and although he knows what she's asking is wrong, he won't stand by to watch his brother harmed.

FAMILY TIES is an explosive account of a family's separation due to lies, secrets, and expressing favortism to one child. The realistic plot delved into the strong issues which separated this family and the steps taken to resolve them. Faith, forgiveness, and family are the subject matters that make this novel an attention-grabbing story.

Reviewed by Sharon Lewis
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

Family ties is an interesting, unpredictable read about a young black boy(D'Ray) that was trying to protect his younger sibling(Little Man) by murdering a teenage white boy, Stanley. After D'Ray's release from juvenile, Stanley's father, Mr.Murphy took D'Ray under his wing and forgave him for killing his only child. The story begins with the funeral of Mr.Murphy and Mr.Murphy's sister(Miss Big Siss) influencing D'Ray to go back home and visit his estranged mother. Reluctantly, D'Ray honored Miss Big Siss request. Unfortunately, D'Ray's homecoming was anything less than grand. Wouldn't it be great if we could choose friends AND FAMILY?

The book was written in a unique way, it read like a skit, instead of a novel. It was written well, characters developed, but the excessive conversational style writing took away from the story. The book needed more storytelling. Family Ties wasn't a page-turner, but VERY interesting.

Overall rating: 4.0

`Family Ties' is the story of a young man, D'Rai who after going to prison for killing a young man and upon his release, lives with the family of the same young man, acquires a college degree and decides to leave and start a new life. He's persuaded by Miss Big Sis to return to his home to see his mother and his little brother, Lil' Man, only to find out that his mother doesn't want him there and Lil' Man is the subject of a statewide manhunt. Lil' Man has decided to flee and D'Rai tries to prove his brother's innocence.
D'Rai accidently runs into the love of his life, Peaches who gives him an ultimatum, to convince Lil' Man to give himself up or their relationship.
`Family Ties' is a remarkably believable, unexaggerated and unpredictable story of family, love and a look into the meaning of forgiveness and triumph. The story of how a family copes and supports each other (or not) through overwhelming adversity.
`Family Ties is an exciting read and will grab you from the first page.The author, Ernest Wills gives a great example of a family who overcomes and when someone is truly `up against a wall'. The story of a son's relationship with his mother and his need to understand her indifference for him and her favoritism for his younger brother and the reasons why.
I enjoyed reading `Family Ties', although the author wrote "Family Ties' with excessive dialogue, at times, and reads like a movie with subtitles. There's a minimal amount of description of the settings and surroundings or the characters.
I would definitely recommend this book.

Tanya Matthews
AAMBC Reviewer

I must read the prequel to this because Family Ties was a good piece of fiction. While the story was predictable, it caught me at Chapter 1 and held my attention all the way to the end. What's even better about this story is that as a sequel, it told enough of D'Ray's backstory so that I didn't have a whole of questions as the current story unfolded. Kudos to the author for another neat piece of work.

This was my first novel read by this author and it was very gripping. It was well written and included such an amount of suspense and unpredictability that it was difficult to put down. I read it in less than a 24 hour period...it was just that good. My first suggestion is not to read the back cover. I did not read it until after I read the book (that's just how I am) and I honestly believe that too much information is provided on the back cover and I would go so far as to say that it is somewhat of a spoiler. The more someone tells you about the book, the more the story line and character development will be ruined for you as a reader.

The author presents his character with forethought and with a deliberativeness that will draw you in without having read one quote or comment about Family Ties. If you know any young people that have been reluctant readers up to this point, this book holds great potential to be "the one" to ease them into the world of reading painlessly. Many topics relevant to junior high and up young people are carefully explored and introduced that can be a springboard for meaningful discussions around family tables, cafeteria tables, and just about anywhere else that people gather.

I highly recommend this book.