Rating: 
Summary: Hell no, we won't go...
Review: Michael McDonald's ability to tell a story - to observe the goings-on around him with the cold detachment of a brilliant narrator at the same time he was an actor in the drama that was unfolding between and among his family and friends - is simply breath-taking. His writing is so clear, so real and so immediate that you feel the heat, the energy and the pain of the streets of South Boston from beginning to end.While I have lived in Massachusetts for most of my life and have some appreciation for the larger events that were unfolding throughout the course of Michael's book, he brings it all home with an eye for detail and an appreciation for what was happening on the ground that is astonishing. His observations about and real-life experiences with cops, forced busing, drugs, welfare, racism, classism, corruption and poverty are eye-opening, to say the least. This book will move you no matter where you live or how old you are. It is heart-felt, beautifully constructed, and - in many ways - a tale for all times. It is a classic tale about one family's life in urban America during the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. I am sure it will become a "must-read" in high school and college classrooms across the country.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointment of tedious proportions
Review: This story loses its potential punch, since it purports to enlighten, yet overlooks an opportunity to mention obvious lessons.
The subtext in MacDonald's book, that it is really kind of cute when little kids steal and scam; or that dressing and behaving like a lady or a gentleman cannot be taught or learned if one is poor; or that babies and disasters just appear out of nowhere, is a problem. What are readers to learn from people who: admit that they know what behaviors to avoid, but are too self indulgent to avoid them; or who know who the criminals are, but accept that they are really sort of good criminals; or who think that wearing spike heels and short skirts is somehow a dignified priority for a mom who is rearing children?
Newsflash! When you have children to care for, you do NOT bring men home to play.
Choices have consequences, and even in the most severe circumstances, the choices people make have a great deal to do with what happens next. This book drops the ball.
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