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Redwood Court
Redwood Court: Fiction | DéLana R. A. Dameron
3 posts | 4 read | 4 to read
A “nuanced, brilliant” (Essence) debut about one unforgettable Southern Black family and its youngest daughter’s coming of age in the 1990s. “A triumph . . . Redwood Court is storytelling at its best: tender, vivid, and richly complicated.”—Jacqueline Woodson, New York Times bestselling author of Red at the Bone “Mika, you sit at our feet all these hours and days, hearing us tell our tales. You have all these stories inside you: all the stories everyone in our family knows and all the stories everyone in our family tells. You write ’em in your books and show everyone who we are.” So begins award-winning poet DéLana R. A. Dameron’s debut novel, Redwood Court. The baby of the family, Mika Tabor spends much of her time in the care of loved ones, listening to their stories and witnessing their struggles. On Redwood Court, the cul-de-sac in the all-Black working-class suburb of Columbia, South Carolina, where her grandparents live, Mika learns important lessons from the people who raise her: her exhausted parents, who work long hours at multiple jobs while still making sure their kids experience the adventure of family vacations; her older sister, who in a house filled with Motown would rather listen to Alanis Morrisette; her retired grandparents, children of Jim Crow, who realized their own vision of success when they bought their house on the Court in the 1960s, imagining it filled with future generations; and the many neighbors who hold tight to the community they’ve built, committed to fostering joy and love in an America so insistent on seeing Black people stumble and fall. With visceral clarity and powerful prose, Dameron reveals the devastation of being made to feel invisible and the transformative power of being seen. Redwood Court is a celebration of extraordinary, ordinary people striving to achieve their own American dreams.
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Mpcacher
Redwood Court: Fiction | DéLana R. A. Dameron
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Mehso-so

This one took me a while to get into as the beginning is a series of 'slice of life' moments about a black family living in Columbia, SC. I enjoyed it more towards the end when it became more of a coming of age story about 16 year old MIka. It did open my eyes to the amount of racism still present in the 90's (and today), as I kept having to remind myself the book was not set in the 50's. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC. 3.5/5

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Zbayardo
Redwood Court: Fiction | DéLana R. A. Dameron
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Panpan

I love family sagas but this one just didn‘t do it for me. It was all over the place and so was I while reading. 2â­ï¸

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TorieStorieS
Redwood Court: Fiction | DéLana R. A. Dameron
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Pickpick

This coming-of-age story, set in 1990s Columbia, SC provides a slice-of-life glimpse into Mika‘s family. The book opens with young Mika looking for to bring in something for a school project on family history, & her beloved grandfather tells her that their family stories are the most important thing passed down. She captures some here along with many 90s references that resonated with me! This absorbing debut book unfolds in vignettes.

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