Customer Reviews

Spite Fences

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3 star:		(4)
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When trying to appeal to a reader, an author must design characters that are full of life but at the same time touching. In order to fully appreciate a great work of literature, the reader must identify with the main character. In Trudy Krisher's Spite Fences, characters such as Maggie Pugh, Pert Wilson and Zeke leave lasting memories and help to demonstrate the bigger themes in the novel, prejudice and maturity. Through Maggie's strength and Pert's spunk the reader is led down an emotional path, all ending with the maturation of the narrator. While peering through the lens of her camera and the cracks in the fence, Maggie develops as she witnesses the stark realities of prejudice socially, personally and racially. The social prejudices in the ironically named town of Kinship are less apparent to the naked eye, but to Maggie's mom, social status is everything. Whether it is religious affiliation or economic rank, Mama's anxiety forces her to forsake one of her children in the face of prejudice. Pert, Maggie's best friend, is snubbed by almost everyone in Kinship because she is one of three Roman Catholics in the town. "Although people in Kinship snubbed the Pughs indirectly, people in Kinship snubbed the Wilsons straight out," states Maggie when describing the unfair treatment of minorities. Even though she is "crossing the line" when associating with Pert, she chooses to do so anyways despite the retribution Mama would deal her if caught. The emotional suffering that comes with befriending a Roman Catholic is not the extent of Maggie's problems, but the problem goes as far as her monetary status. When searching for a fence to surround the Pugh's house, Mama is heartbroken after realizing they can only afford pine fencing. The castle like fence surrounding the Pugh's house not only keeps out the vicious neighbors but isolates Maggie from the outside world. This blockade forces Maggie to take advantage of her opportunities outside the fence and she does so by savoring each moment with a camera. Her photos expose the untold truth in Kinship, from Zeke being arrested to people from the other side of the tracks having a good time. Maggie's knowledge and compassion stretches far beyond that of many people in Kinship, but her photos of the social minorities will come back to haunt her in the form of Virgil and his detestable family. In order to appease Mama's every request, Maggie goes through more pain, both emotionally and physically, than would be thought humanly possible. Mama is so eager to have Gardenia, Maggie's younger sister, win a beauty contest, she virtually forgets about Maggie. She is ordered around and practically treated as a second-class citizen in her own house. At one point, Mama says to her, "You ain't much to look at, Maggie. It's a good thing you can work." This lack of appreciation towards Maggie is emotionally taxing and is best shown after her close encounter with Virgil. She returns to her house after almost being raped by Virgil and the first thing that Mama utters, despite the obvious torn clothing and scratches on her, is, "Where's the laundry?" This is the point in the novel where the usually timid father takes a stand against Mama and treats Maggie like a "kitten, wiping...tears with his red bandana." His actions are truly touching and help to show how Maggie's life could be with out her terribly self-absorbed mother. It is through the words of her friend Pert that Maggie realizes that the treatment she suffers from her mother is wrong. Even if it does take someone else's words for her to realize the error in Mama's ways, eventually she recognizes this and through her strong will learns the truth about her personal mistreatment. The most obvious of the prejudices exposed in Kinship is that of race, with the labels colored and white stamped on every bathroom, water fountain, even park, around town. The segregation is most apparent to Maggie when Zeke, her black merchant friend, is arrested and beaten for using the designated white bathroom. Although ignorant to the fact that Zeke could in fact tell the difference between the words colored and white, Maggie gives him one of the greatest gifts possible, the ability to read. It is through this simple gesture that Maggie first blatantly disregards the boundaries separating white and black. The pictures Maggie takes while listening to a speech by George Hardy, her brilliant black employer, give life to the most poignant truth in Kinship. Virgil's malicious display of the pictures and racist phrases on Maggie's fence both shock and hurt her but she realizes that it is not she that is ignorant to the relationship between blacks and whites, but the rest of the community that still believes in segregation. Although she witnesses pain and hatred, Maggie is a true leader of her time, going where no one else had been, no longer recognizing color. In a conversation with her mother, Maggie brazenly states, "There's no shame in friendship." Although simple, this message single-handedly solves any racial differences because with friendship, there would be no race, nor shame. A true visionary of her time, Maggie, though innocent and young, sees far more through her through her camera than any adult in Kinship could see. Along with Maggie's evolution into adulthood and knowledge come bumps and bruises but it is Zeke's words that sum up her journey the best. In referring to the flower she was named after, Magnolia, he thoughtfully says, "They take forever to mature. Sometimes as long as twenty years. But once they do, there's not anything you can do to destroy them." Despite the fences surrounding Kinship and her house, Maggie learns to see beyond the fence, letting neither color nor label stand in the way of friendship. Her camera is a bearer of truth, both pleasant and appalling. Maggie's "gift" to Kinship and is much more than what's on the surface, it is the manifestation of truth and love brought to the small southern town by a young girl.

I was looking for some pleasure reading late one night at the grocery store when I picked up this book. Rarely have I encountered characters like Maggie and George Hardy. I not only wanted to know what happens next, I wanted to know their entire life stories.

Maggie is an independent spirit being smothered by a small close-minded Southern town and an abusive mother. She is struggling with finding an identity that isn't prescribed for her. Maggie challenges her town's definitions of racial roles at a time when the Civil Rights movement is finding its way into small town Georgia. She is an example of the definition of courage. It doesn't mean the absence of fear, it means not letting your fears stop you from following your heart and soul.

This book is best suited for mature middle school and high school readers, but adults will enjoy it at a much deeper level.

The item was delivered on time and in good condition. My only complaint is that the book was labeled as an "Advanced Reading Copy" and I was not told this until I recieved the book and saw the front cover. It was not a huge deal, but my professor preferred that it would've been a regular copy. (Advanved Reading Copies means that it is the copy of the book before it was published so certain things haven't been removed or changed since it was not published to the public, which made it difficult due to the class requirements.)

Maggie Pugh lives in a small town in Georgia. In the year 1960 she is thirteen years old. Her family is very poor, living in the bad section of town, far away from the rich folks in the section of town where they have huge houses and a club for boating. But, her mother always says, at least they are white and living in a white section of town.

This summer some of the black people living in town start to assert themselves. They begin to challenge the laws that keep them separate from the white people. They go into the bathroom marked "white" at the local drugstore, rather than the one marked "colored." They ask to be served at the lunch counter, rather than having to pay and take their food elsewhere. Things are changing all around Maggie.

Maggie begins this summer to look more closely at her own life. Her mother is abusive toward her but adores her seven-year-old sister Gardenia--a little girl so perfect and delicate she wins beauty pageants. Their father is out of work. Their next-door neighbors are cruel, and one of them specifically terrorizes Maggie.

Maggie ends up getting a job what will change her whole way of thinking. She begins cleaning the house of a mysterious man, whom she doesn't see but who leaves her notes telling her the work she has done is splendid. But the first rule of the job is that Maggie is not to ask any questions. Why is this man so secretive?

This book contains some great characters. Maggie is strong and insightful, Zeke is a quiet presence, George Hardy is intelligent and brings out confidence and reflective thinking in Maggie. Even the villains in the story--Virgil and Maggie's mother--really come to life and add to the story. This story, more than others, gave me a good picture of what the civil rights fight was really like in small towns in the South, on a day-to-day, personal level. It made the conflict much more vivid for me.

Spite Fences by Trudy Krisher

"Trip it. Advance the film. Steady your hand, Maggie. Snap. Snap. Click" (Krisher 273). Looking through the lens that is her life, Maggie Pugh keeps her secrets held in the undeveloped film of her mind. Thirteen years old, and she has already seen the horrors of the civil rights movement. Spite Fences, is Maggie's struggle with keeping secrets.

As a poor white child living on the North side of the railroad tracks in Kinship, Georgia, Maggie Pugh has to work for all she has, and to protect herself from the danger that is her momma. Zeke, Maggie's African American friend, finds a job for Maggie, which involves even more secrets. Because the Pugh family is desperate for money, Maggie takes the job for a colored man. The job entails not only cleaning, and delivering, but "What makes it special, Maggie," [Zeke] said, looking around again before he went on- "what makes it special," he said, "is that the job requires you to keep secrets" (Krisher 23). Throughout the novel, Maggie find more and more secrets and her mind is overflowing with undeveloped photographs that erupt when Maggie finally can't take the treatment of the colored folks in her town.

During the huge civil rights movement that comes through town, Maggie is struggling with not only keeping the secrets of the coloreds, but the secrets of her family. Isabella Pugh, Maggie's mother, is not the kindest of mothers. Beating her eldest daughter because the neighbor tore apart her younger sister's doll, or because her daughter didn't get the laundry to the right house on time because she was raped, isn't what a mother should do, but that's exactly what Isabella Pugh did. Maggie has kept all the horrible pictures in her mind, but with all of her other secrets coming out, Maggie can't keep even more. When Maggie's secrets come out, the entire town of Kinship, Georgia notices, and to most, not in a good way.

This realistic fiction novel had a sluggish beginning but once the story gets past the basic plot, the story picks up so you don't want to put the book down. I would recommend this novel for those who don't mind a slow moving beginning. It is a medium read for middle school students and an easy read for high school students.

Maggie's undeveloped film eventually, but you have to read to find out how. The camera is a powerful thing, but pictures can destroy.

I had to read Spite Fences for school, and although the beginning was a bit slow, the pace quickly picked up and made me want to read more. Spite Fences is about a girl named Maggie who deals with many struggles of life in the 1960's. She deals with racism, unfair treatment from her parents and rude neighbors. I would definately recommend this book.

Spite Fences Trudy Krisher

When you first read this book about Spite Fences you will know this book is a really good book and you will not want to put it down. This book is about the different between colors and blacks. Or the different about two neighbors. This book is about how Maggie really like to what she wants. She has a camera that she got from a good friend. Her family lives next door to these people that they can't stand at all. They can't clean they house; they have garbage all over the lawn. Maggie lives in a neighborhood were the people are poor. She lives in the neighborhood of whites and her best friend lives in the neighborhood where the blacks live. So, I hope you read this book because I found out its really good. I think that this book is for a reader who likes the peace in this world. If you are also a person who likes to read about a strong person.

This book is about a white girl named Maggie who lives in a town called Kinship who deals with racial differences.The book is good but there are some parts that are detailed and graphic. But a great book over all.

When the novel is first seen Spite Fences might look like a story that is just about the way life was back then, when colors were separated. Actually it isn't, the book deals with drama, friendships, and family problems. The main character, Maggie Pugh, is caught between arguments with her parents. The only way she gets space from her parents is by sitting alone and thinking. One major problem is, Maggie is distrubed by the neighbors she thinks of a way to solve the problem. Maggie is a very strong person. She doesn't let any problem bother her in any way. When it comes to her parents she just leaves the room and doesn't think about it. Her friends are important to her, because hse needs them to talk to. To play with, when she needs to get things off her mind. Also, even though Maggie does not like to be there when her parents fight she takes care of her sister, listens to her mother and respects her father. Some challenging things about reading the novel is that, paying attention is very important. In the novel, the author jumps around from one point to andother and then goes back to the other point. Also, pay close attention to location and where which color lives where. The author doesn't talk too much about location. Even with those challenges, Spite Fences is a good book.

This book takes place in a southern city where people are very segragated. Life is everything but easy for 13-year-old Maggie Pugh. Her neighbors, the Boggs' are disgusting people who only care about themselves. Maggie's parents dont help either, her mother beats her. Maggie trys to get a job to help out her family and one day, she runs into her neighbor, Virgil Boggs. She has had bad experiences with him before but this time was by far the worst! He does something terrible to her but to find out you have to read the book. This book isn't the best but if you are looking for a fun but serious book to read this is it!

*Laryssa, Emily and Meagan*