memoir – BookBunnies

Marshmallow reviews The Color of Water by James McBride

Today Marshmallow is writing about The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother, written by James McBride and first published in 1995.

Marshmallow reviews The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride. — Marshmallow reviews *The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother* by James McBride.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like biographies that reveal nuanced stories about race, family, identity, and love, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): James McBride is a Black man with a White mother. Today, this would likely not be considered much of a big deal. After all, mixed race marriages are something relatively commonplace in the United States today and are the simple result of the fact that love generally does not see color. However, back in the 1960s, such relationships were demonized and the pair separated by all means possible; Loving v. Virginia, the landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on interracial marriage was only passed in 1967.

For James’ mother Ruth, this was yet another struggle in a long, seemingly endless line of strife. She was born in America to two Polish Jews and, due to the fact that her father was a “lousy rabbi,” her family had to keep moving to find new places of work for him. Eventually, they settled down in Suffolk, Virginia. There, Ruth felt discrimination firsthand constantly, with classmates calling her “Jew baby” or worse. But she also witnessed the overt racism directed towards Black people around her. Her first boyfriend, Peter, was a Black man and the young couple kept their relationship a secret out of fear of the KKK. Ruth also faced consistent abuse at home from a father that emotionally, physically, and sexually tormented her; yet, despite all of this, she persevered quietly and eventually built a family. She then kept rebuilding every time she was torn down.

In The Color of Water, the author James McBride tells the story of Ruth’s life intertwined with segments of his own autobiography in between. McBride describes his chaotic environment growing up as the eighth child out of twelve total. While he knew he was loved, there was unending pressure from Ruth to be academically successful, and within such a large family, there was not enough attention to go around. As James grew older, he started recognizing that his mother’s race was different from his own and that race was a construct that society unfortunately valued in countless ways. In seeking to uncover the details of his mother’s life, James simultaneously searches for his own identity and the role that race has in America. This likely won’t come as a surprise to anyone, but the answer is nuanced and riddled with mystery—much like Ruth herself.

Marshmallow is reading The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride. — Marshmallow is reading *The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother* by James McBride.

Marshmallow’s Review: I found The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother to be a very interesting book. As a mixed race bunny growing up in a quite mixed neighborhood and school district, I have never really felt any need to ‘discover myself’ because I already knew what I was. However, James’ identity quest is understandable, especially because race was even more central to society in those times. Today, of course, race is still an issue, but seeing the way our nation was back then gives you a better sense of the role of race over time.

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother examines race on a national scale by specifically analyzing its role within a family setting. James’ story is rather unique, but the themes throughout the book (abuse, race, search for security, selflessness, grief, etc) are representative of the general human experience in certain ways. I think the fact that his life is sort of a more extreme version of general experiences helps highlight how remarkable the people in his life—and most people in general—are.

The book is relatively easy to read and I think the author wrote it for a broad audience. There are mentions of sexual abuse, drug use, and violence, so some parts might make this better for older readers (maybe twelve and older?) But overall, The Color of Water is a very important book that reveals simple truths about love, humanity, and America—such as the obvious fact that race should never dictate anything, especially love.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride 100%. — Marshmallow rates *The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother* by James McBride 100%.

Marshmallow reviews An Unexpected Light by José Saramago

Earlier this summer, Caramel reviewed a neat picture book by the distinguished Portuguese author José Saramago. Today Marshmallow picks up where Caramel had left off, and reviews An Unexpected Light, another excerpt from Saramago’s book on his childhood memories. Illustrated by Armando Fonseca and translated by Margaret Jull Costa, An Unexpected Light was first published in English in August 2024. Readers can learn more about the book here.

Marshmallow reviews An Unexpected Light, written by José Saramago, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, and illustrated by Armando Fonseca.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like books that are calming, thought-provoking, and subtly wonderful, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): José Saramago was born in Portugal, somewhere I have never been; yet, through this book, I feel like I know what it is like to be there. When he was twelve years old, Saramago went along with his youngest uncle to help him sell his grandparents’ pigs at a market in Santarém. They embarked on a journey that is beautifully understated. The author describes in quite simple terms what he and his uncle did, what happened, and where they were.

The story overall is quite simple. Yet, there is something profoundly special about it. You can tell when you open the book that there is something different in this book–-something that most other books cannot convey in more than Saramago’s meager twenty or so pages. The plot is not particularly convoluted as a result. But the experience is unique.

Marshmallow is reading An Unexpected Light, written by José Saramago, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, and illustrated by Armando Fonseca.

Marshmallow’s Review: If reading this book has taught me one thing, it is that Saramago didn’t win a Nobel Prize for nothing. This is definitely a lot different from the picture books I’ve read. It is still short, has drawings, and relatively little text per page. But it nonetheless feels different. I don’t exactly know how to describe it, but I felt as though I had been transported to Portugal when I first read this book. The drawings are not complex but they convey shapes and people that your mind transforms into a living, breathing environment around you. I think maybe the illustrator chose a more minimalistic style to allow the eyes to spark the imagination which then builds a more detailed, immersive world on its own. This might in turn be inspired by Saramago’s style, which achieves the same effect.

I am still not exactly sure what the last couple of sentences in the book mean. Caramel reviewed another book by this author and used the term “quiet conviction.” I feel like the theme is different in this book, but the word “quiet” is still quite applicable. Saramago doesn’t use elaborate descriptions or fancy words. In fact, I did notice: he doesn’t seem to use quotation marks either. This is clearly a stylistic choice, which I found interesting. But the author and the book as a whole have a very understated feel throughout. I really liked that.

I think authors generally don’t try to push their works to have a singular, trite meaning; leaving the interpretation up to the reader makes the work really what the reader wants it to be. In my opinion, this book is about slowing down, thinking, feeling, and admiring the world. Saramago watches everything with not much judgement in this book which makes the reader kind of slow down and calm down. I think this book shows me that the world and nature are awe-inspiring in a quiet way, a way that I think Saramago strove to emulate.

I had read this book earlier in the summer when Caramel was looking over the two books. Today, I had an experience that really made me think of this book again, in so subtle a way I didn’t really even notice it. I woke up early and was in a car for a while, groggy at the beginning. But I looked out the window and saw a sky that was indescribably beautiful. The sun was rising, making its daily ascent, but I was watching as if for the first time; perhaps it was the first time I really looked. It was truly awe-inspiring and wonderful. It made me realize how beautiful nature is, but in a way that is so encompassing that we don’t and maybe can’t recognize always. This book really gives you the time to slow down and recognize that there is beauty and the extraordinary in so many places that we consider ordinary.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 10/10.

Marshmallow rates An Unexpected Light, written by José Saramago, translated by Margaret Jull Costa, and illustrated by Armando Fonseca 10/10.

Caramel reviews The Silence of Water by José Saramago

José Saramago was a Portuguese writer who received the 1998 Nobel Prize in Literature for his “parables sustained by imagination, compassion and irony [with which he] continually enables us once again to apprehend an elusory reality.” Today Caramel is talking to Sprinkles about The Silence of Water by Saramago, a picture book published in English in 2023. (The original Portuguese version was published in 2011). The book was translated into English by Margaret Jull Costa and was illustrated by Yolanda Mosquera.

Sprinkles: So Caramel, today we are talking about a picture book.

Caramel: Yes, it is called The Silence of Water.

S: Can you tell us what it is about?

C: Sure. It is about this kid, the author, who goes fishing, and catches this big fish, a barbel, and he tries to pull it out, but the fish is too strong and escapes. It just pulls his fishing rod and everything with it too.

S: Ouch!

C: Yes, so the boy is annoyed, and he runs back to his home and gets another fishing rod and stuff and gets back to the pond and tries to catch the barbel again. He waits and waits, until the night falls. But he fails to catch it ever again.

S: Hmm, that is the whole story, right?

C: Yes, it is short.

S: So what do you think about it?

C: I think it is good, but I kind of wished it was a little bit longer. There are many pages with just pictures in them. So there is a lot more room for more words. But they chose not to put more words.

S: Do you think that could be intentional? Maybe they wanted to make you feel the “silence”, without too many words.

C: I guess that makes sense, yeah, I can see the thinking that the writer may have had. The many wordless pages are really quiet, and you do sort of feel, or even hear, the silence.

S: I’d say many of the scenes have a serenity to them. Except the times the boy is running of course!

C: I guess so. It’s kind of cool.

S: The illustrations made me remember a couple books you reviewed before. Albert’s Quiet Quest and Colette’s Lost Pet, both by Isabelle Arsenault, and Captain Rosalie by Timothee De Fombelle. All three of those books had somewhat sparse illustrations, and quite limited color palettes, kind of like this book.

C: Yeah, I can see that. There is definitely a fixed and limited color scheme, and it looks kind of like a jungle, which may have been the idea.

S: Overgrown nature all around the boy, right? But it is not the wet green of the jungle; it is a lot more subdued. Though there are some reds and blacks too.

C: Yep, the contrast was pretty good.

Caramel is reading The Silence of Water by José Saramago. — Caramel is reading *The Silence of Water* by José Saramago.

S: Okay, so why do you think the book is titled The Silence of Water? Which water is it?

C: The pond, I think.

S: And in the pond, the barbel. The barbel is silent, too, right? The boy never gets to see or hear from it again?

C: Maybe, that could explain it.

S: Why do you think the author wrote this book, Caramel? What do we get out of it as readers?

C: it was the fact that he never stopped trying to catch the fish, so the theme is to never give up.

S: I can see that Caramel. A great analysis! Did you know that the text is actually an excerpt from the author’s memoir Small Memories, originally published in Portuguese in 2006? At the back cover it says that it is taken from a story of his childhood, “a tale of quiet conviction”.

C: Huh, I think “conviction” is a big word for a lot of young bunnies.

S: You are right it is a big word. But you know what it means, right? It means more or less what you said. It means determination. It means having a belief or opinion but very firmly held. So the boy was determined to catch the fish. And it was impossible, and he more or less knew it was impossible, but he still gave it his all. And in the end, in most such stories, we often see the main character succeeding. So the moral becomes if you persist, you will eventually win. But this boy does not win. He does not get the fish. What do you say to that?

C: Well, that makes sense. The boy does not get the fish, but he knows he tried. And he also says in the end that he still left his mark on the fish. The fish is still his in some way. Though it is a bit morbid to say that. Because the mark he left on the fish is probably a big wound. The fish is probably wounded by the fishing hook and stuff. So he did leave a mark. But I am not sure I like the mark. Poor fish.

S: You have a good point Caramel. The fish is hurt most likely. But then again maybe, since it is such a big and powerful fish, maybe it will be alright. And there will only be a little scar left.

C: Huh, that’s a good way to see that. I hope so. And then it would be kind of like a memory. And the boy could feel that he made an impression. And it would not be so morbid. Okay, I will take it like that.

S: Yes, let us do that. Then the boy’s story of determination, or of “conviction” like the book tells us, is still inspiring. The boy did not give up. And it was impossible, and he did fail, in the most straightforward meaning of the word, but he did leave his mark. And he did not give up. So he does end the book in an upbeat tone.

C: Yes, he does, I guess. I was trying to understand why. This helped.

S: Talking things out with you always helps me, too, Caramel. So overall, did you find this book worthwhile?

C: Yeah, it is a quick read, and the pictures are lovely, and when you dig into the determination thingy, it has a deeper message, too. Yes, overall, I like it! And I think other little bunnies could enjoy it, too!

S: That is great, thank you Caramel. So let us wrap this up, because it is getting really late.

C: Yes. I should sleep soon.

S: What would you like to tell our readers?

C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!

Caramel enjoyed reading The Silence of Water by José Saramago and recommends it to other young bunnies looking for a quiet book. — Caramel enjoyed reading *The Silence of Water* by José Saramago and recommends it to other young bunnies looking for a quiet book.

Marshmallow reviews Night by Elie Wiesel

Today Marshmallow reviews Night by Elie Wiesel, first published in Yiddish in 1956 and in English in 1960. Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 “for being a messenger to mankind: his message is one of peace, atonement and dignity”.

A small caveat: The book as well as the review below involve historical events that depict harsh realities. They may not be appropriate for younger readers.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you are a person of reasonable maturity and ability to process and handle important historical events, then this is the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Elie Wiesel was a young Jewish boy in Romania during the Second World War. The book is more or less a memoir of his youth.

Elie is a young boy, extraordinarily devout at a remarkably young age, seeking out a religious mentor in Moishe the Beadle. It is from him that the town of Sighet—located in Transylvania—first hears of the Nazis’ proximity. Since Moishe is a foreign Jew, he is forced to leave first. But he luckily escapes the Nazis who leave him for dead due to his bleeding, shot leg. Moishe walks on foot an unbelievably long journey back to Sighet to warn the very people who look down on him of how dangerous the Nazis are. None of the residents believe him. Elie worries for his mentor, as many adults around him say the Beadle is mad.

Many of the Jews of Sighet do not believe that the Germans could reach them. Others believe that the war would end before Germany’s reach expanded far enough to affect them. It is heartbreaking to say that they are wrong. The Nazis show up on Sighet’s streets within a matter of days.

The Jews are first forced into ghettos, condemned to smaller slums as though they are not deserving of being able to choose where to live. Soon they are forced out of their homes, able to take only what they could carry. They are made to wait on scorching sidewalks and soon after chased towards cattle carts that take them to the concentration camps. Elie and his family, which includes his father Shloma, his mother Sarah, his two older sisters, and his seven-year-old younger sister Tzipora, are taken to Auschwitz. He loses his mother Sarah and Tzipora to the gas chambers and the Nazis on the first day, though he does not know it for certain until later. He and his father are forced into labor camps and the horror continues.

Wiesel’s suffering is conveyed through his own testimony in Night. He and so many others, millions of Jews, Gypsies, and other undesirables in the Nazis’ eyes, suffered so much as the hands of humans who were in all aspects but one the same. This story is one that everyone must read.

Marshmallow is reading Night by Elie Wiesel. — Marshmallow is reading *Night* by Elie Wiesel.

Marshmallow’s Review: This book is simply vital. I think everyone must read it once they are old enough to understand why we must remember. Elie Wiesel is one of the strongest humans to walk this Earth and he is also one of the wisest. Through this book, he passes on the story of the Nazi camps and their horrors designed to exterminate the Jews. He describes things that provoke a deep silence after reading, a deep silence that necessitates thought and great gratitude that one is not in such a situation. Wiesel is a hero by the virtue that he survived. But there are so many who did not and, for their sake and Wiesel’s, this story cannot be forgotten.

Night was assigned as reading in my English class and that is one of the best decisions a teacher can make. This story has impacted so many and Wiesel is truly one of the few people who can be described as a master of prose and a witness of humanity. In words, Wiesel has described the indescribable.

Thanks to Wiesel’s wife Marion who translated it into English for a larger audience, Night is written in simple and clear language, with few ornate embellishments. The horrific events make it seem so already, so Wiesel says things in a way that never makes the story seem unreal.

It is really remarkable and heartbreaking that Wiesel never viewed himself as exceptional. He wonders several times why he survived. He says he was never special or had any sort of skills or attributes that made him deserving of life. But everyone is deserving of life and yet so many were robbed of it. It is truly heartbreaking. Yet, his thoughts and perseverance, his selflessness and his determination (though these words have lost much of their weight and meaning through superfluous use) make him one of the most admirable human beings. He cared unwaveringly for his father though they were both suffering. He never stopped looking after him, even though Wiesel himself thought he failed in this. Wiesel was truly, indescribably a remarkable person with a profound impact. His book Night must be read.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 200%.

Marshmallow rates Night by Elie Wiesel 200%. — Marshmallow rates *Night* by Elie Wiesel 200%.