This book keeps getting even more depressing! I swear, nothing worse could possibly happen to this poor family, the mom (Ruth) especially. I felt so bad for James while reading the part where he described playing with his reflection in the mirror. This was his way of envisioning himself living a better life, where he wasn't hungry all the time and where his mother wasn't white.
In chapters 10 through 18 of The Color of Water, we learn more about James's mother, Ruth's heartbreaking and inspiring story. I wanted to slap her father when he wouldn't let her walk through the Gentile church for her graduation. I don't blame her one bit for wanting to leave! She grew up in a world not trusting anyone enough to talk about her personal problems with. Even when she pregnant got pregnant at 15, she was too scared to tell her mother and even her sister. I do not know how this woman stayed sane whatsoever; I know that I personally would have left that house way before she did.
After James's stepfather dies, everyone kind of went off the deep end. James started slacking in school and became hooked on drugs and alcohol, and his mother took it extremely hard as well. Packing up and moving to Delaware was even harder on the family. I couldn't imagine trying to learn a completely different lifestyle like they had to. It was good for James, though. He started trying harder at school and even made it into college. I wanted to cry when he wrote about his mom crying when the bus drove away for him to go to college.
The more I read this book, the more I like it. It's growing on me! More coming soon :)
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