Book Review: Secrets in the Shadows

Published in 2001

This fictional story is crafted around a male high school student named Roylin. The first thing we learn about Roylin is that he is a young male who lives in poverty with his mother and four other siblings. His abusive father is mentioned, briefly, in the beginning of the story to make a couple of points about Roylin's negative behaviors. His father is physically abusive towards Roylin, his siblings and his mother. Roylin's mother divorces his father and Roylin, as the oldest son, takes on a more mature role in the family to support his mother. In the mornings, he drives his sister to her school, before he goes to his own school. After school, he goes to work. He also babysits his younger siblings while his mother is at work in the evenings and at nights.

We are also, briefly, introduced to gun violence in the first chapter. The author mentions that Roylin was shot by other students in the park. We are not provided any other details except the names of the shooters and what happened to them. Quickly, we realize this young adult of seventeen is a West African descendant with dark brown skin and lives in the project. We also learn that he is not and/or wasn't the nicest boy in the school thus doesn't have a trusted friend circle. He considers himself as a 'looser' and is isolated.

Story starts with Roylin laying his eyes on a pretty girl named Korie.  Korie is a transfer student from another school and it is her first day in Roylin's school, Bluford high school. Roylin is the first person to speak to Korie, and during their first lunch together, Roylin tries to impress Korie by telling her that he works and earns a lot of money. Korie smells the blood and tells Roylin that she has her heart set on a beautiful gold necklace with diamonds which costs $300.00. In reality, the money, Roylin earns, goes to his mother's car and insurance payments and only $50.00 is left for Roylin to spend usually. Roylin starts to think of the options to get the remaining $250.00; maybe his mother, a friend and/or a neighbor? That is where the story plot becomes interesting for the readers, but complicated for Roylin. Roylin visits his neighbor and the neighbor is asleep. While the neighbor is asleep, Roylin takes money from his neighbor's wallet. The neighbor is Mr. Miller. He has been like a grandfather to Roylin. The next day, Roylin decides to speak to Mr. Miller about the money he took, as the guilt starts to set in.  He is informed by the building manager, a lazy man, that Mr. Miller is dead due to Roylin's actions. The building manager blackmails Roylin and says either Roylin can help him fix the things in and around the building or he will report Roylin to the police. 

Anne Schraff (1939- )

The story has the Crime and Punishment vibes.  An adolescent, predominately West African descendant, is feeling guilty for what he did yet cannot go to the authorities to pay for his crime. He is a misfit in school and his relationship deteriorates with Korie as she has her own agenda. Roylin is a typical young male, predominately West African descendant, in the United States (U.S.), who tries to find his way in life, but does not always make the right decisions. The story does not get into the societal side of being predominately West African descendant in the U.S..  It is a story of an adolescent's actions with very little regard to the bigger societal rules, boundaries and opportunities. It is focused on the individual actions. Roylin has very little to no support system. His mother is a single mother of five children- oldest is seventeen and the youngest is younger than 5. She is employed but there isn't any other support, since it is clear, she mainly relies on Roylin. Roylin does not have friends either. He has almost no one to rely on. 

I found the story plot very intriguing. I enjoyed reading it because it focuses on the adolescents' shallowness and how peer pressure, even without friends, can shape a young student's -male, or female - actions. The author was a high school teacher for years. Clearly, she wrote her stories based on her observations of her students thus it does reflect on most of the behaviors accurately. However, it probably still misses a lot of the genuine insider behaviors for west African descendants with dark brown skin. 

It is a short story of less than 150 pages and it goes pretty fast. I read it twice and had both of my children read it as well. My son was not happy with Roylin's behaviors and references about Korie. He didn't like the fact Roylin referred to Korie as, 'she will be mine once I give her an expensive gift.' I thought that was interesting. Both my daughter and my son didn't like Korie using her sexuality to influence boys to get what she wants and her dishonesty. My children couldn't relate to the main characters.

Roylin's journey to correct his behavior to repair what he did to Mr. Miller takes a life of its own and we are drawn into the story. In the end of the story, there is a twist that is unexpected but delightful. 

I did not purchase this book. I picked it up, on the free book shelf, in the public library. It is a contemporary story written by predominately a west European descendant about predominately a west African descendant. This can go two ways, one is the outsider observation can provide an insight into the life of another group of people; two it can be filled with bias, positive or negative and twist the reality. Although there is hint of violence at home, school and the community as well as the strong smell of poverty which to this day persists in communities where descendants of predominately West African people reside in the U.S., there is hope, love and brotherhood in this story. Therefore, I think this story was was filled with the right amount of balanced bias and was presented well.

Thumps Up - Recommended.

Schraff, A. (2001) Secrets in the Shadows. Townsend Press.