Angel of Greenwood
by Randi Pink
Randi Pink's The Angel of Greenwood is a historical YA novel that takes place during the Greenwood Massacre of 1921, in an area of Tulsa, OK, known as the "Black Wall Street."…
Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Wilson is, on the surface, a town troublemaker, but is hiding that he is an avid reader and secret poet, never leaving home without his journal. A passionate follower of W.E.B. Du Bois, he believes that black people should rise up to claim their place as equals.Sixteen-year-old Angel Hill is a loner, mostly disregarded by her peers as a goody-goody. Her father is dying, and her family’s financial situation is in turmoil. Also, as a loyal follower of Booker T. Washington, she believes, through education and tolerance, that black people should rise slowly and without forced conflict.
Though they’ve attended the same schools, Isaiah never noticed Angel as anything but a dorky, Bible toting church girl. Then their English teacher offers them a job on her mobile library, a three-wheel, two-seater bike. Angel can’t turn down the money and Isaiah is soon eager to be in such close quarters with Angel every afternoon.
But life changes on May 31, 1921 when a vicious white mob storms the community of Greenwood, leaving the town destroyed and thousands of residents displaced. Only then, Isaiah, Angel, and their peers realize who their real enemies are.
Review:
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
This book was hard to finish. Not because it wasn't well written, but because it was absolutely heartbreaking. Even though this novel was fiction, May 31 1921 actually happened. Innocent people were burned alive, they were murdered in cold blood. Men, women and children alike were killed for no other reason than existing.
Told in dual perspective, Angel of Greenwood is the heartbreaking story of two kids who are just living their lives as ordinary teenagers. At the beginning of the novel we get to know Angel and Isiah as normal teenagers. They have school, friends, families and even bullies. Suddenly they find themselves trying to survive that night in 1921 when their community burned down around them. Pink does an amazing job of breathing life into these characters and that terrifying night. Well written and heart breaking, Angel of Greenwood is an amazing book that should be near the top of everyone's "to read" list.
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