 "Ghetto Story" | 2008-08-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: AL8KUHX8BKDJ3 |
| This book is another ghetto story that has a lot of rhetoric regarding "inner city" life that is packaged to appeal to those who have no idea that this is pure bulls**t. In the book the high school is described as a place where learning is discouraged and success is frowned upon. I was raised in Detroit (the real Detroit, not the suburbs) and I attended Detroit Public Schools. Furthermore I taught for Detroit Public Schools for six years and currently teach for Columbus Ohio City Schools. With about two decades of "inner city" school involvement as a teacher and a student, I have RARELY seen someone picked on because they got good grades. There are some serious issues with inner city education but it is not how they portrayed it. I have seen many students like Cedric and some of them were harassed. It was not because they were smart or had good grades; it was because they were socially clumsy and immature. Students who are socially immature are harassed in many schools, not just in the "inner city". Additionally, the book never mentions what happens to his classmates. The tone implies that they are stuck Southeast Washington. I understand that this book attempts to expose the trials and tribulations of a "inner city" student but it does so by portraying negative and untrue images. If someone wants to read the book to understand the life of an "inner city" student, don't read this book, go to an "inner city" school and see for yourself. |
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 "Amazing hope" | 2008-08-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A16N0N2EUOIOGS |
| Written with amazing detail and sensitivity, "A Hope In the Unseen" manages to avoid making trite observations about race or poverty, which is uncommon |
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 "In U, U dare to hope" | 2008-06-04 |
| - Reviewed By pigelet_inc |
The protagonist makes no excuses for himself. I love that. I think he realised early on (after the book was written) that he wanted to be most of all "real." It wasn't to be about how he overcame, living in the ghetto etc but more importantly, the emotions and finding himself.
At certain points, I am like this kid is not a very pleasant person but even with that I could understand where he was coming from. This made him real.
He also along the way learnt he was in charge of his and only his destiny. He couldn't pull his siblings up. or his mom and I think for the longest time that must have irked him a lot.
He had to also learn to let go of this incessant rage murking in his soul. He had to face these demons so he could finally interact in the real world in a full capacity. This was not easy for him to do and he had so many missteps.
This is a tale not fairy tale perfect but gritty and still on-going, right now as we speak.
Cheers, |
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| "Walk a mile in the shoes of an inner city ghetto kid" | 2007-11-23 |
| - Reviewed By pcharlto |
Great book. It details the last year in high school, and the first year in college of Cedric, a determined, intelligent inner city black kid who fights to make it out of the ghetto and to the promised land -- an ivy league college where he won't be taunted, beaten and despised for being smart.
I lost my first copy, and went out and bought a second. I loan it out to anyone I can. Cedric's story is very compelling and inspirational. I love to give it to people whose idea of a rough upbringing is that the family only owned one car . . . |
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 "Overrated." | 2007-08-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A78EOH1MFUAJR |
A Hope in the Unseen was an engaging read and I absolutely fell in the love with the beginning. Cedric's life was put into a perspective that I could connect to and it was as if I could see everything through is eyes. It is a story that is uplifting and can be appreciated by people of any gender or color.
However, I did find a few things to frown upon. One part of the book that bothered me was the constant racial labeling. Understandably it is one of the main themes throughout the story and it is what makes this book so appealing to many. You get to see a struggling young black man make it out of a situation where many others would have gotten swallowed up. Yet, to me it became annoying because when I would finally reach a moment when I could connect to the characters as people the writer, and sometimes Cedric, would draw the whole focus back to who was what race and where they come from. It is great to be proud of who you are and what your background is but it doesn't have to define you.
During one of the later chapters we encounter Cedric and Zayd eating lunch. Zayd's friend, Josh, wanders over and immediately Cedric makes a remark about he should not be seen with two white guys. Whether he meant it jokingly or not it hurt Josh's feelings and created an awkward situation. Maybe it's because I just don't understand it but I think it was a little insensitive of Cedric. This was the only flaw that I had problems ignoring. It just seemed as if Cedric felt that he was entitled to be at Brown simply because he was a minority. Even if he wasn't in the minority, I sense a certain attitude that develops from attending an ivy league institution. It is almost as if by having your name on their roster that it makes you superior to everyone else.
This is definitely not the case and if people to hold on to such a mentality is disturbing.
Another problem I had with the novel was that after finishing such an uplifting story you start wondering what is next and if the system has ever changed. Sure, Cedric made it out and became successful but what about everyone else who was left behind? What about the students who were not as academically inclined or those who were not fortunate enough to have people supporting and pushing them like Cedric did? This book gives people an insight into a world that many are oblivious to. This could have been a great opportunity to open people's eyes about social injustice and to spark their interest in finding a way for more students to become like Cedric. I believe the author could have steered this book into becoming a link between the readers and social activism. Plenty of people have either had similar experiences or are now more aware of such situations and would be more than happy to support and contribute to any programs that are trying to turn this around. I believe more could have been done with A Hope in the Unseen in this regard.
All in all, this story was fairly interesting and inspiring. It was definitely helpful to read about the transitions from high school to college and to see how one person dealt with the common worries of university life. However, I do not see myself recommending this to many people and I believe that it is highly overrated. I do not believe it is "formula shattering" as one reviewer described it. In fact I think it follows the basic guidelines to any underdog story. I felt as if I could have been reading any number of stories, except with a different setting and character. A Hope in the Unseen is good for classroom reading assignments or book clubs because it has many discussion points and may lead readers to be more aware of the various issues it touches on. Other than that, I must truthfully say that I would not have read this given the chance to choose it for myself. |
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| "A Beautiful Mind" | 2007-07-07 |
| - Reviewed By doc_k |
Ron Suskind's A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League is reminiscent of A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash. In "A Beautiful Mind," our hero, John Nash, faces and fights his own demons to finally succeed and excel in the Ivy League world. In "A Hope Unseen," our hero, Cedric Jennings, fights and faces demons of societal injustice to finally succeed and excel in the Ivy League world.
Suskind's riveting narrative of Jenning's ascension from inner city life to Ivy League life paints a portrait of the contrasts between cultures like few other books ever have or ever could. More importantly, it tells the story of moving beyond suffering to a place of hope through persistence and resilience based upon Christian faith, maternal wisdom (mother wit), and the inspiring tradition of African American music.
Reviwer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction, Soul Physicians, and Spiritual Friends. |
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| "Awesome Book!" | 2007-02-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3VCX7Q1HTRELK |
| This is an awesome book that I would have never read if it weren't required by one of my classes! Even though I paid for standard shipping, the book arrived quickly! I am very pleased with my purchase from this company. |
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| "Hope is seen" | 2007-01-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2YSJK3ZF7IVJR |
| Moving story about a young man struggling through life in the inner city, who through grace, faith, determination and hardwork achieves the dream. The story follows him through high school and college. Outstanding novel for anyone to read, but especially for young black males. |
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| "Inspiring, but I'm not a fan of Suskind's style" | 2007-01-04 |
| - Reviewed By steelfaerie |
I read A Hope in the Unseen recently and found it to be an uplifting story which had the potential to create awareness about DC's inner-city schools - but that's where it stopped.
I had been hoping for a bit more research within the story on the inner-city situation and proposals for its improvement, but I was let down in the face of a lot of needless detail which I did not care about and which had no lasting impact on me. The book is a nice story, but I finished it feeling as though I had not really learned anything new and although the book had a personally inspiring effect, its value as a tool for social activism is not there. That doesn't in any way make it a bad book, but it certainly could have been better, perhaps in the vein of Ted Conover's work - a combination of research, storytelling, and activism together.
I didn't feel that paragraphs devoted to such things as what CD Cedric happened to be holding were relevant, and was generally irritated by their inclusion. Suskind's "invisible author" perspective bothered me greatly, and could have been better handled in a different fashion. Those things said, the book was indeed a nice story - but it just could have been so much more. |
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| "A poignant and insightful story" | 2006-06-14 |
| - Reviewed By dlabannc |
What does it take to overcome great obstacles and find the best in oneself? The author found a young man named Cedric Jennings to explore this question. The author observes Cedric's life in a uniquely honest way. We are able to experience first-hand the often painful and complicated emotions of young people who grow up in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods and broken homes. The day to day experiences of these young people often necessitate the need to focus on emotional and financial survival, rather than intellectual pursuits or personal aspirations.
Cedric is unique not only amongst his peers in the inner city, but he is unique amongst people of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Cedric has an implicit trust in his own self-worth that allows him to hope for a better life without having to see proof that a better life is achievable. Through his faith in God, himself and the steadfast love of his mother Cedric pursues the American Dream. The author, however, does not sugar-coat Cedric's accomplishments, but instead presence them honestly as a series of hard fought battles. Once Cedric makes it into the Ivey League we see that he still has to battle the difficulty inherent in the level of study he has undertaken, and the survivors guilt associated with leaving his old life to enter something with which his family and old friends are unable to identify.
A Hope in the Unseen is an honest portrayal of a remarkable and inspiring young man.
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