Annotation
"As she did in her previous novels Tumbling and Blues Dancing, Diane McKinney-Whetstone once again renders time and place, character and emotional intensities. It is 1969 and Cecil Street is "feeling some kind of way," so the residents decide to have two block parties this year. These energetic, sensual street celebrations serve as backdrop to the stories of the people on the block. Joe, a long-ago sax player, has turned his eye across the street to a newly arrived young southern beauty even as he is suddenly haunted by memories of this horn-playing nights and his affection for a shy, soft hooker from years ago. Joe's wife, Louise, a licensed practical nurse, is losing her teeth to gum disease and her joy to sensing that Joe's attention has wandered. Their teenage daughter, Shay, is consumed with helping her best friend and next-door neighbor Neet, who has gotten pregnant by a Corner Boy. Neet's mother, Alberta, is shunned by the block because of her immersion in a religion that has no name."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Awards
2005 Black Caucus of the America Library Association Award
Characters
| Name | Joe |
| Gender | Male |
| Traits | African American |
| Married | |
| Father | |
| Ex-musician | |
| Family man | |
| Name | Louise |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Nurse |
| Traits | African American |
| Married | |
| Mother | |
| Name | Shay |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Student |
| Trait | African American |
| Name | Neet |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Student |
| Trait | African American |
| Genre | Domestic Fiction Historical |
| Topics | African Americans Family relationships Troubled marriages Working classes Teenage girls Female friendship Teenage pregnancy Abortion Community life Life choices Redemption |
| Setting | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania West Philadelphia African-American neighborhood Urban Working class neighborhood |