Redwood Court
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

The lives of several generations of a southern Black family are dramatized in interconnected stories in poet Dameron's captivating fiction debut. The collection opens with the evocative tale of Weesie and Teeta, the grandparents of the Mosby family, as they marry, start a family, and purchase a home on Redwood Court in a new housing development in 1960s South Carolina. The subsequent stories follow family members as they come of age, grow old, expand the family, and experience the changing world, all the while tethered to each other. Strength in community is a powerful theme throughout. Each story is anchored by a distinct, clear voice, and Dameron has a gift for quiet, eloquent observations that enrich scenes of everyday experiences. In "Rollin with My Homies," the young, insightful Mika looks out the car window: "Outside the window I didn't roll down, Columbia flashed by like those early motion pictures I learned about--how still images caught in quick succession and played back nonstop . . . and now everywhere I look is just thousands of still images stitched together like one of Grandma Annie's quilts."

Poet Dameron (How God Ends Us) makes her fiction debut with a gratifying collection about a Black family in South Carolina. The title story centers on Louise "Weesie" Bolton Mosby, who settles with her Korean War veteran husband, Teeta, in a cul-de-sac in suburban Columbia, S.C., in the late 1960s. While raising their daughter, Rhina, Weesie collects money from her neighbors to support others during tough times. In 1979, teenage Rhina gets pregnant with her older daughter, Sasha, and marries Thomas Tabor. "How Do You Know Where You're Going?" follows Teeta as he dotes on Sasha and her younger sister, Mika, in the 1980s. "Thirty-first Annual Chitlin Strut" portrays the aftermath of Teeta's death from lung cancer, when Mika, now in eighth grade, grows closer to Weesie as they learn about relatives in Florida. Later stories trace Mika's coming-of-age as she contends with racism and financial hardships. In "Rollin' with My Homies," local reporters spread panic about gang activity in the neighborhood and the sheriff institutes racial profiling, while in "Independent Women," which perfectly ties the collection together, Mika takes after Weesie by leaning on the family's neighbors to raise money for her 16th birthday party. Even amid heartache and turmoil, this brims with joy. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders and Assoc. (Feb.)

The youngest daughter in a Black family tries to understand her history and her legacy in this poignant multigenerational story. Mika Tabor has to make a family tree for her history class, but as she tries to learn where she comes from a more existential question plagues her: "What am I made of?" It's a difficult question to answer for Black Americans whose ancestors were forced to the U.S. and enslaved, but Mika's grandfather, Teeta, tells her that in place of artifacts or records, she has the stories her family has passed down. The novel relays three generations of these stories in a Black working-class suburb of Columbia, South Carolina, told through multiple first-person narratives as well as an intermittent close third person. The family lands in Columbia in 1948, when Mika's great-grandmother Lady Bolton flees their Georgia hometown with her two children after the public lynching of a neighbor. About six years later, Lady's daughter Weesie meets James "Teeta" Mosby at a vegetable stand and is instantly smitten; the two eventually marry and settle down in a newly constructed all-Black subdivision, on the titular Redwood Court. Despite the multiple perspectives, Mika is the heart of the novel, and the main timeline tracks her coming-of-age in the 1990s. Mika spends these years collecting memories and life lessons both trivial and essential: At one of Weesie's summer cookouts, Mika begrudgingly runs around keeping food and drink in order while Weesie explains the merits of hosting; as she witnesses her parents being attacked with slurs, her father describes the importance of "pick[ing] your battle or your war." Poet Dameron's fiction debut is more a collection of snapshots than a straightforward narrative; the timeline jumps and the alternating points of view can be disorienting. Still, the scenes are brought to life by the way the author beautifully evokes the senses and focuses on intimate details, and the depiction of inherited trauma alongside profound love is powerful and moving. Dameron argues that people are made of their stories in this poignant novel about a young Black girl looking for her roots. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

One Black working-class family in Columbia, SC, achieves their American dream when they purchase a house during the 1960s. With hard work, the family expands and prospers. The second generation stays nearby as they grow up, marry, and have their own children. As the grandchildren come along, the house on Redwood Court becomes the family focal point for holidays, birthdays, and general gatherings. The family has strict rules of conduct and traditions that keep them close to each other and their community. Mika, the youngest grandchild, spends much time with her elders and is especially close to her grandfather. As Mika grows up in the 1990s, she notes the different ways in which the members of her family make their way in the world and learns lessons about love, loss, and responsibility. In her first full-length novel, poet Dameron (How God Ends Us) follows one family through the generations, thoughtfully situating the story within well-described historical contexts and laying bare the difficulties of living in a racially biased society. Alternating narration by a group of five talented actors provides various viewpoints. Ashley J. Hobbs, who narrates the part of Mika, is a standout. VERDICT A heartwarming, kaleidoscopic portrait of a Black American family.—Joanna M. Burkhardt