Customer Reviews

Hush

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The book I read was Hush, By JacquelineWoodson. This book was a fictional, drama, ethinic book.The most obvious problem in the book was the family's race, being african american.

A summary of the book Hush would be based around a girl whose birthname is Toswiah, which is later changed to Evie when put into the witness protection program. Toswiah faced many problems in this novel. After being used to living in Colorado with her family, grandmother, and having her best friend live down the street, everything changed in a matter of a day. The day and event was a hard decision for her father, who was a police officer. He witnessed a rasict homicide on a teenage boy by his two white partners. After days of thinking of what he should do, he came forward to the police department, who witnessed and interrogated witnesses. In the mean time, the two cops harassed, and called the family. The witness protection program relocated their family, giving them new identities, and they could not come into contact with any of their family or friends from Colorado, until the police department arrested the two cops. Toswiah is forced to reinvent herself and not think of the past at all.

The book was interesting becuase it shows how certain people, even cops, deal with racial problems and how it affects their families. One wrong move by anyone, can affect all parties involved. The book was also inspiring because it shows how a young girl could be so courageous and have the ability to put up with leaving family and friends, to reinvent herself and not say anything about her past.

Possibilities and questions the book raises are how did the family and friends live after they left Colorado? What ever happened to the two cops and their families? How the whole family is affected by this tradgedy? It only fully explains Toswiah and her sisters thoughts and views, but leaves out the effects this had on everyone else.

Arguments I would have against the author would be Toswiah shouldn't, have to deal with rascism and relocation. This also lead to her fathers attempted suicide and the emotional breakdown of her mother,all of which is alot for a child of her age.

The book taught me and affected me by showing me how a person, even a cop cant be trusted. They can give you one impression and totally change it in a matter of seconds. Which can affect the lives of everyday people. It shows how rascism and still exists in society, regardless of the occupation. It also shows how a young girl can deal with adult like problems at a young age, and adapt to different things when needed to.

My overall opinion of the book was it was a very good, interesting, inspiring, and a book some people can relate to, because we are all aware that these problems exist, but not to this extent. Advice I have for potential readers of this book would be to look and see how a young person can relate to such harsh opinions and impressions we have in our own society, and how every little thing can affect a person no matter how minimal.

The descriptions make me want to love this book - the color of each person's skin, the way the mother's hands knead the bread, the thought of having no floor to stand on. These are all wonderful. The gradual development of Toswiah/Evie into her own person is also nice, although I thought she had it pretty much together, even at the start. There isn't much action in this book, and sometimes I felt like the book's plot was over, even before the book had really started. You knew the family had to go into hiding; you knew the mother turned to religion. But the descriptive characteristics of each person carry a lot of the story along. They are worth savoring.

The descriptions make me want to love this book - the color of each person's skin, the way the mother's hands knead the bread, the thought of having no floor to stand on. These are all wonderful. The gradual development of Toswiah/Evie into her own person is also nice, although I thought she had it pretty much together, even at the start. There isn't much action in this book, and sometimes I felt like the book's plot was over, even before the book had really started. You knew the family had to go into hiding; you knew the mother turned to religion. But the descriptive characteristics of each person carry a lot of the story along. They are worth savoring.

It has never really mattered to Toswiah's family that they are one of the few black families in town. Her father is a police officer, her mother a teacher, and her older sister is a popular cheerleader. Toswiah has a best friend and she loves Colorado. Everything is going well for them. Even though her father is the only black police officer on the force, the rest of the police officers are as close as family to them.

Then her father witnesses two white officers shoot a black teenager. They say they thought he was in a gang and was reaching for a gun. Toswiah's father saw that his hands were fully visible, up in the air, and the police officers shot him anyway. He agonizes over the decision he has to make. Should he testify in this trial and help to put his fellow police officers in jail? Or should he follow the code of the police officers and turn the other way, pretending he didn't see anything? He decides to testify.

Suddenly Toswiah's world is turned upside-down. Her family leaves their home in the middle of the night. She will now be known as Evie, and moved to a different place to start over as a different person, telling lies instead of history. Being in the witness protection program is hard on the entire family. Toswiah's mother has found religion and lost herself. Toswiah's father sits all day by the window, feeling like he somehow made the wrong decision. Toswiah's sister is angry at everyone, especially her father, and is doing all that she can to get away. Toswiah is proud of her father and thinks he did the right thing, but she is sad that everything is falling apart. Can this family come together and survive this?

I liked Toswiah and her narration, and I liked the flashbacks to the times before the family had to move. I was disappointed in the parents, though. They were set up as such strong people and such good parents before the trial. But then when their children needed them to be stable and supportive, they completely fell apart. It didn't seem to fit with their earlier personalities.

This novel is about a black family. There are 2 girls and 2 parents.Cameron and Toswiah are the 2 girls. Cameron is a cheerleader and Toswiah is an athlete. Therefore the father witnessed a crime scene and was forced to start a new life in a new place with a new name. Cameron is now Anna and Toswiah is now Evie. Evie experiences a new life at her new shool and even found someone named Toswiah. They become good friends. The mom becomes a Jehovah's Witness and the father stares out the window all day. I reccomend this book to to all people because people should know what its like to start a new life.

The main character Toswiah Green lives in Denver with her sister and parents. Her father is a police officer, her mother is a house wife and she reads the bible all the time, and her sister is a student. Toswiah's father witnessed a murder and it caused him and the rest of the family to move. The murder that was witnessed was by two fellow officers. The father testified against the fellow officers and they denied that they did not commit the murder until the evidence was found and shown that they did commit the murder. The family ends up moving to another place. As they moved they had to change their identity. The mother started teaching while the father was jobless. At the beginning of the book, it was interesting because it was a turning the page novel. When it reached the ending it wasn't a real good ending because, it left the reader not knowing what's going to happen next. The novel needed a continuation to it.

Jacqueline Woodson wrote Hush. Hush is an excellent book. Hush tells the story of a girl's life that became tragic after her dad witnessed a murder, and is faced with the decision to testify. The cover of Hush doesn't seem appealing because it just has a girl on it, but the book itself is very good. I would suggest Hush because it has awesome vocabulary like "He assigns us cones and moves to the grassy center of the field" (pg. 166). Also I think a lot of people can relate to it because Hush tells the story of a girls difficult life. If you like biography and dramatize books you would like Hush. But if you like adventure books you wouldn't like Hush. But before you read it I have to notify you Hush has many flashbacks and it gets confusing at times. I would urge you to use sticky notes to help you mark important parts and it will help you understand the story better. This book is appropriate for children 12 and up. In conclusion I would recommend this book because it's a fantastic and dramatic book.

D from Ms. Russo's English

This book is a story about an African-American girl who is part of a witness protection program. She had to move away with her family into a brand new city. The main character in this story is Toswiah Green/Evie Thomas (she has two names because she is in the W.P.P.). She is pretty shy and not very social. Her long legs make her a very good runner. The main charcter's older sister, Cameron Green/Anna Thomas, is more social, pretty much the complete opposite of her. They used to live in Denver, Colorado, but then they had to move away to a cold-hearted city when they were relocated by the W.P.P. Toswiah/Evie's father used to be a policeman. He witnessed two white cops shoot a black boy because of his skin color. He decided to go on trial and people started threatening him and his family. Officers Randall and Dennis are found guilty and have to go to jail. Now Toswiah/Evie must struggle to go on in the new city, after she left everything she had ever known behind. Her mother throws herself headfirst into religion and her father sits depressed at the window, thinking about who knows what. Cameron/Anna throws herself into schoolwork show she can go to college at 16 and leave this miserable place. Toswiah/Evie decides to run track, which helps her slowly reach out to people and make new friends. Finally, her dad throws his bowl against the floor and cuts himself, attempting suicide. He is rushed to hospital, where he recovers, and comes back as the man Toswiah/Evie used to know back when they lived in Denver. After that, she knows everything is going to be just fine.

Toswiah Green's life is perfect until her father, a Denver police man, witnesses a murder. Toswiah and her family are then forced to leave Denver and take on new identities. Toswiah is struggling to remember who she was and learn who she is becoming. This is a great novel about having strength, courage, and hope when your whole world seems to be falling apart.

When the Green family moved from their perfect home in Denver, Colorado, it is not because someone changed jobs or they want to add some more variety into their lives. They moved because if they didn't, they might have been killed. When Johnathon Green, the only black cop in his precinct, witnesses his two best cop friends kill a black teen for no reason, he threatens to tell the head cop. Soon the Green family starts to get anonymous threatening phone calls and someone even fires three shots into the Green's family room window. The Greens, with help of the Jehovah's Witnesses, change their last name to Thomas, and everyone in the family changes their first name. Toswiah Green, newly christened as Evie Thomas, goes to a new school and makes new friends on the track team. The two cops that kill the teen are eventually sent to jail, but it depresses Evie's father so much that he tries to kill himself by jamming a shad of pottery into his wrist. Evie's sister, Ana, gets accepted into Simon's Rock College on a two-thirds scholarship, and leaves at the end of the book. This book is filled with family values, and tragedies.

There are multiple sad incidents in this story. When the two officers kill the black teen, they claim he was reaching for a weapon, but he actually had his hands raised above his head when the shots were fired. Evie meets a girl in her new class who also has the name Toswiah, and that Toswiah's sister is mentally retarded. Finally, Evie's father gets so depresses that he stands up, throws his bowl on the ground, and jams a shard of it into his wrist, sending him to the solarium in the hospital.

There are some family lessons in this book. For instance, when Evie's sister finds out about Evie running track and field, she helps Evie get to practices and meets. The Green/Thomas family becomes very close after the bowl incident, especially Evie and her father. The whole family congratulates Ana after she makes it into Simon's Rock, also.

Evie faces many types of discrimination in this book. When she is in Denver, after the shooting she begins to get teased at school because she is half African American. Once she moves, however, she begins to get teased because she is a Jehovah's Witness (or Joho, as the kids called it). Evie also gets teased because she is really skinny.

Officer Randell and Officer Dennis, the cops that killed the teen in Denver, nearly ruined the Greens's life by tearing them away from every thing the Greens owned and loved. This novel is a great quick read for teens and has lessons to teach us all.

c.brady