The Jacob Ladder

From Booklist\nGr. 5-8. Based on the childhood of Jamaican coauthor, Uton Hinds, this is a harsh story of poverty and betrayal. It's also about family love and faith. When his charismatic father, Brother John, abandons the family and moves in with the woman next door, Tall T (Uton) can't afford clothes for school, but the librarian teaches him to read fluently and the boy helps his mother keep the family going. Then at Christmas, Brother John offers Tall T the chance to be part of the exciting traditional Jonkonnu musical procession. He's thrilled; should he trust his dad? There's a contrived metaphor connecting Jacob's ladder in the Bible with the steep scary cliff that Tall T climbs to find his manhood, but the story's strength is in the boy's immediate first-person, present-tense account of the village, place and people, music, magic, and food. What's most moving is Tall T's relationship with his father. Brother John's a village leader, even though he's an adulterer and a compulsive gambler. He's a scary stranger, but his son loves him. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved\nFrom School Library Journal\nGr 4-7-An autobiographical slice of Jamaican village life in the 1960s, based on co-author Hinds's boyhood experiences. Tall T watches his father, who has a weakness for alcohol and bone dice, pick up his suitcase and leave the family one day to go live next door in the home of the obeah (voodoo woman) and her flirtatious daughter. When Tall T's mother gathers the children to tell them, "Brothers and sisters stick together. They don't wash away like gully water," the theme and tone for this excellent book are established. Tall T is given the honor of marching with his father and the other Jonkonnu men on Christmas Day, yet his father ignores him. Lacking the money for proper school clothes, the boy escapes to the library, where he is befriended and tutored by a librarian. The book ends with Tall T making a literal and symbolic climb up the "Jacob Ladder" used by the banana workers to ascend from the boats in the sea, where he reaches a new level of understanding about love, family, human frailty, and his own resources. The characters are complex and real people; there are no good guys/bad guys here-not even the boy's father, whose behavior Tall T ultimately is able to put in perspective. Readers will be quickly drawn in by the protagonist's honest and questioning preadolescent voice. A compelling and vibrant book that will give young readers a real look into the Jamaica behind the postcard and cruise-ship images.-Ellen Vevier, Round Rock Independent School District, TX
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