A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League [Paperback]

Ron Suskind (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 4, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0767901266 | ISBN-13: 978-0767901260 | Edition: Reprint

It is 1993, and Cedric Jennings is a bright and ferociously determined honor student at Ballou, a high school in one of Washington D.C.’s most dangerous neighborhoods, where the dropout rate is well into double digits and just 80 students out of more than 1,350 boast an average of B or better. At Ballou, Cedric has almost no friends. He eats lunch in a classroom most days, plowing through the extra work he has asked for, knowing that he’s really competing with kids from other, harder schools. Cedric Jennings’s driving ambition–which is fully supported by his forceful mother–is to attend a top-flight college.

In September 1995, after years of near superhuman dedication, he realizes that ambition when he begins as a freshman at Brown University. In this updated edition, A Hope in the Unseen chronicles Cedric’s odyssey during his last two years of high school, follows him through his difficult first year at Brown, and now tells the story of his subsequent successes in college and the world of work.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ron Suskind won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1995 for his stories on Cedric Jennings, a talented black teenager struggling to succeed in one of the worst public high schools in Washington, D.C. Suskind has expanded those features into a full-length nonfiction narrative, following Jennings beyond his high-school graduation to Brown University, and in the tradition of Leon Dash's Rosa Lee and Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here, delivers a compelling story on the struggles of inner-city life in modern America. While it appears to have a happy ending (with Jennings earning a B average in his sophomore year), A Hope in the Unseen is not without a few caveats (at times, Jennings feels profoundly alienated from his white peers). Trite as it may sound to say, this book teaches a lesson about the virtue of perseverance, and it's definitely worth reading. --John J. Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-Cedric Jennings is the illegitimate son of an off-and-on drug dealer/ex-con and a hardworking, badly paid mother; it is her single-minded vision to have the boy escape the mean ghetto streets unscathed. Cedric has listened to her and is, as the book opens, an A student at a run-down, dispirited Washington, DC, high school, where he treads a thin line between being tagged a nerd and being beaten by gang leaders. Suskind, a Wall Street Journal reporter, follows the African-American youth through his last two years of high school and freshman year at Brown University. Inspirational sermons at a Pentecostal church, guidance from his mother, a love of black music and singing, and a refuge in the logic of math combine with the young man's determination and faith in the future to keep him focused on his goal of a topflight college education. Despite many low moments and setbacks, Jennings's story is one of triumph within both cultures, black and white, which together and separately put tremendous obstacles in his path out of the inner city. It is a privilege and an inspiration for readers to accompany Cedric on part of his long, difficult journey to maturity. His journey continues at this moment, since he is now a senior at Brown this fall. YAs of any background will be introduced to new worlds here.
Judy McAloon, Potomac Library, Prince William County, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 373 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; Reprint edition (May 4, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767901266
• ISBN-13: 978-0767901260
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (135 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Urban
  • #68 in Books > History > Americas > United States > African Americans > Discrimination & Racism
  • #69 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Sociology > Race Relations

More About the Author

Ron Suskind is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Way of the World, The One Percent Doctrine, The Price of Loyalty, and A Hope in the Unseen. From 1993 to 2000 he was the senior national affairs writer for the Wall Street Journal, where he won a Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Experience January 3, 2002

By Grant Finlayson

Format:Paperback

A remarkable work of non-fiction by a journalist who followed an inner city kid in DC for his last 18 months of high school and his first year at Brown (the first graduate of his school to attend an Ivy League college). At a basic level, it is an illuminating and entertaining account of life in a part of our society that is largely inaccessible and incomprehensible to those who are not in it. But there is much more to it than that. The book provides compelling descriptions of the thoughts and feelings of a cast of real characters including:

(1) Cedric, the protagonist: a sincere and diligent - if sometimes a bit prickly - young black kid who wrestles with conflicts between desire to achieve vs. desire to fit in; his childhood faith vs. inner city culture of sex and drugs; his childhood faith vs. the more sophisticated culture of experimental skepticism at the University; loyalty and affection for his family vs. the aloof individualism characterizing most young Americans.
(2) Cedric's mother: flawed but heroic; a fierce advocate for her son; an unbending force for faith and morality in his life.
(3) Cedric's absentee father: a dynamic personality, but caught in the trap of drug use as he goes in and out of prison and relationships; alternatingly wracked by guilt and soothing himself with rationalization; struggling to hold on to his tenuous relationship with his son.
(4) the minister: a complex character who gives stirring sermons imploring his impoverished flock to shun the moral evils around them and show their devotion by contributing their last farthings - which he uses in part to purchase his Cadillac; his true commitment to his flock is put to the test at the end of the book when Cedric's mother is faced with the prospect of losing everything in a forced eviction, which the minister alone has the wherewithal to prevent.
(5) the advantaged black kids he meets at Brown: their prep school backgrounds and easy familiarity with white culture set them apart from Cedric, but he shares with them other cultural inclinations and references.
(6) his upper-middle class white roommate from Marblehead: a congenial kid who thinks he has life pretty well figured out and prides himself on being able to get along with anyone, but who becomes increasingly confused and hostile after a series of conflicts and miscommunications with Cedric.

For me, Suskind's use of an omniscient narrator to tell the story succeeds - enabling him to weave insights gleaned from multiple sources into a fully informed story. No memoir of an individual participant could achieve that breadth of perspective. It works because his research is so thorough, and the point of view of each character portrayed with sympathy and respect.

All in all, extremely compelling stuff. Nothing short of amazing for something this insightful and rich to come from the pen of a white Jewish guy from out of town. In the afterword, the author comments quite movingly on how meaningful his personal relationships with Cedric and his mother had become to him. They clearly opened their souls. The result is a remarkable portrait of a family that is at once flawed and heroic, endowed with modest resources (and even capabilities) but who nevertheless reach for uncommon achievement; a family uplifted by faith in the face of great and continuing hardship. Very inspiring.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A bittersweet read...excellent nonetheless October 16, 2000

By Amy T. Ruder

Format:Paperback

I rated this book 4 stars for Suskind's writing style. The main character,Cedric Jennings, well, he should get 6 stars for tenacity alone (as should his mother, Barbara). This was an eye-opening book, especially for someone like myself who lives in a country setting far away from inner-city strife and hardship. Cedric endures the taunts and ostracism of his inner-city high school peers because he is bright, motivated, and interested in learning. (His mother's infleunce should not be underestimated here, nor should Cedric's faith and the support of his church.) He succeeds beyond all odds in getting accepted to Brown University, only to learn that it's very difficult to fit in and be understood there as well. Poor Cedric doesn't seem to fit in anywhere he goes and yet, he "stays the course" in spite of a mulitude of reasons why he should not. What a wonderful triumph and inspriration his story is. I'd highly recommend it- particularly to non-African American readers who most likely don't have clue what it takes to get out of the ghetto- really. This- "just go out and get a job" mentality we "majority" folks spout needs to be blown up. Read this story and you'll see what real inner-city people are up against. It may change the way you view things and may even inspire you to want to do something about the way things are.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring story October 11, 2000

By Krista

Format:Paperback

Ron Suskind tells the story of Cedric Jennings, following him from his senior year at Ballou, pegged as one of the worst Washington, DC public schools, through his first two years at Brown University, one of America's premier universities.

Cedric has something of a support network -- some caring teachers, a strong religious background, a loving, hardworking mother -- and some scholarships and unique opportunities that open doors. Yet, even with some structure in place, he is not completely equipped to deal with the academic and social pressures of the Ivy League life. Even some of the people in Cedric's own DC community do not approve of his efforts to become successful.

Suskind points out that minority scholarships most often benefit middle and upper class students, while people like Cedric, with an inner city, working class upbringing, rarely receive the kind of financial support necessary for a superior education. Little help exists for those who are truly "disadvantaged." In light of how few supports he had, it is a true inspiration to read about Cedric's eventual success.

I hope that some of the anger at the disparities between rich and poor that this book arouses can be channeled into finding ways to help people like Cedric, and his less lucky peers.