Your Corner Dark

December 1, 2020
A young boy dares to dream of life outside of Jamaica despite facing many obstacles. Franklyn Green is an 18-year-old high school senior. A hardworking and intellectually brilliant student, his goal is to attain a better way of life by pursuing a university education abroad through an engineering scholarship. Coming from a poor family and living in a rural community without even a system for running water, the odds are stacked against Frankie. The increasing numbers of boys and men in his community joining posses--including his uncle's--and the ensuing gang wars leave Frankie even more determined to leave Jamaica. But then Frankie's father is shot, and complications from the medical bills leave him in the toughest predicament of his life. Add an unexpected romance, and Frankie finds his life in upheaval, forcing him to adapt and reconsider how to make his way out of the country. Hall portrays a violent, corrupt, and almost lawless Jamaica, an impression likely to leave a bitter taste in readers' mouths. The novel's prose and pacing feel jumpy and lacking in cohesion; the execution sometimes prevents consistent immersion in the protagonist's world. This is an earnest attempt to portray a harsh reality experienced by many. A story of family, sacrifice, perseverance, and survival. (Fiction. 14-18)

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January 25, 2021
In Jamaica, “so bankrupt it could hardly afford hope,” Franklyn Green, nearly 18, dreams of an engineering scholarship to the University of Arizona. Preparing to leave the small town of Troy, Frankie must recalibrate when his widowed father, Samson, is hit by a stray bullet at an election party thrown by Frankie’s uncle Joe. Considering the hatred between his father and uncle, and with no other option, Frankie joins Uncle Joe’s gang to pay for his father’s life-saving treatment. As he navigates this new life, Frankie starts dating his private school classmate Leah, the artistic daughter of a corrupt cop who works with his uncle. But after saving his best friend, Winston, from a rival gang, “posse life” becomes lethal, and as the election draws near, a turf war begins to drag Frankie in, threatening everyone he knows. Jamaican-born author Hall adeptly presents Frankie’s constant battle between the life he’s dealt and the life he desires. While his portrayal may leave a cutthroat impression of Jamaica without clear context, Hall offers vivid imagery, genuine dialogue, and a powerfully persistent protagonist in this fast-paced debut. Ages 14–up. Agent: Faye Bender, the Book Group

January 15, 2021
Grades 9-12 Set on the island of Jamaica comes a fresh story of a Black teen torn between family obligation, romantic love, and an opportunity for a better future. For 17-year-old Frankie, getting a full scholarship to the University of Arizona is a dream come true. But then Frankie's dad is seriously wounded in a gang-related shooting and urgently needs expensive medicine. Desperate, Frankie turns to his Uncle Joe, the don of a gang that illegally grows and sells marijuana. Joe offers the money on the condition that Frankie gives up his scholarship and joins Joe's gang. Meanwhile, Frankie has started a relationship with beautiful Leah, who is also Black, but there's a wrinkle: her father is a dirty cop, complicit in Joe's gang's activities. When Leah is accepted to art school in the States, Frankie is desperate to go with her, but how? Jamaican-born Hall's highly readable, well-plotted fiction debut is distinguished by its Caribbean setting and use of Jamaican patois, which provides verisimilitude. These rich details support the story's appealing characters, making for a compelling read.

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February 1, 2021

Gr 8 Up-Jamaican teen Frankie Green has been working hard at his school to earn a scholarship that would allow him to move to the United States to attend college and pursue his dream of being an engineer. He wants to earn his degree and then return to Jamaica to help improve the infrastructural gaps he sees all around him. He lives with his strict dad but is torn between what his dad wants and the Rastafarian posse life of his uncle, Joe. He does not see this life as one he aspires to, but when his dad is shot in the crossfire at an event hosted by Joe, Frankie needs to make hard decisions and sacrifices. In order to secure the medical treatment his father needs, he agrees to join Joe's posse and give up his scholarship. With each successive difficult choice, his limited options become less and less appealing. This all eventually reaches a crisis of gang violence followed by an opportunity for a happy-ish ending with Frankie's love interest, Leah. Gritty and full of detail about life in Jamaica, this eye-opening novel will allow readers to identify with a teen doing his best in a difficult situation. VERDICT This novel will appeal to readers of Ibi Zoboi's American Street and Jason Reynolds's Long Way Down.-Kristin Lee Anderson, Jackson County Lib. Svcs., OR

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