Members of the Vise Library were selected to review Outskirts of Hope. We received a copy of Jo Ivester's book for an honest review.
About the book:
In 1967, when Jo Ivester was ten years old, her father transplanted his young family from a suburb of Boston to a small town in the heart of the Mississippi cotton fields, where he became the medical director of a clinic that served the poor population for miles around. But ultimately it was not Ivester’s father but her mother—a stay-at-home mother of four who became a high school English teacher when the family moved to the South—who made the most enduring mark on the town. In The Outskirts of Hope, Ivester uses journals left by her mother, as well as writings of her own, to paint a vivid, moving, and inspiring portrait of her family’s experiences living and working in an all-black town during the height of the civil rights movement.
This book gives you the story through two perspectives: from Jo as a ten year old and her mother Aura. Aura and her family have a big impact on the southern community that they move to during the civil rights movement. Aura teaches highs school English and had an impact on her students as she introduces them to topics they hadn't really been taught before. There are a lot of good things that happen in this book, but they also have to face some very difficult things along the way. This book will show you how just a few people showing a little compassion will go along way. I loved how this book was pieced together from so many sources. This is was a very fast read and I couldn't put it down. I hope people take the time to read this book and gain an understanding of the times and this family!
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