Rating: 
Summary: Very Interesting and Up Front
Review: Like other readers, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book when I got started but then a few pages into it I didn't want to stop. This book deals with issues that are definitely happening in this day and time. I was so glad that Ava found love and happiness, I was sad that it happened for her after contracting HIV. This is a book that I regreted ended so soon. Like the previous reviews...send us a sequel(even though I know it will be sad)
Rating:
Summary: Provacative!
Review: After reading the first few pages you are quite tempted to put this book down! The reality hits you in the face head-on like a MAC truck! Her treatment of current social issues (AIDS/Teen Pregnancy/Alcoholism)is cruel and brutally honest. Thought provoking to say the least...The end is worth all of the cathartic experiences!
Rating: 
Summary: innovative
Review: Rarely do I read a book with such mixed feelings--can't wait to read it to completion, but sad that the story will soon end. I found it that intriquing. Really humanized issues dreadful social problems. (crack use, ignorance, promiscuity, murder, violence). The author's precisive insight made it an amazing read.
Rating:
Summary: COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN
Review: At first I wasn't sure if this was going to be the type of book that I enjoy, but as I continued to read I realized that this book is really good. The characters are very well developed to the point that I felt that I knew them and could feel their pain. This story is very true to life about what's going in small town America. We have a tendency to think that once we leave the city we are also leaving the problems. WRONG. Sin is everywhere and is really running wild in small towns. I want to read more about Ava/Eddie, Joyce/Imani and of course Mrs. Gerry. Excellent job for a first novel.
Rating:
Summary: Good Reading!!!!
Review: This book was quite insirational. It touched on so many issues that face our society today. You found yourself feeling as you were right there with the characters. You felt Ava and Eddie's love. You were moved by Joyce's tenacity in her endeavors. It also reminds you that all children need a chance. There are alot of abandoned children like Imani. We should all consider adopting even if you have already been blessed with children of your own. Praise to Pearl Cleage for this wonderful work.
Rating:
Summary: A feel-good story filled with love, compassion and vitality
Review: After reading the first two pages of this book, I put it down. I really wasn't in the mood to read about someone with HIV - too depressing. Later I decided to take another look. This time, I picked it up and couldn't put it down. Pearl Cleage does a masterful job of drawing the reader into a story about love and commitment - the love of self, the love of two sisters, the love of a woman and man, the love of community. This book has a feel-good quality that made me not want the story to end. Everyday I would look forward to my subway ride to work just so I could catch up on what was happening in the lives of Eva, Joyce and Eddie. What I really enjoyed was how Cleage was able to subtly convey passion. Instead of it being in your face, before you know it, you're wrapped up in the characters' emotional lives - Joyce's passion for Imani and the Sewing Circus, Eva's new-found desire to live and Eddie's ability to convey love in such an accepting and sensual way. As you can tell I loved the layers of this book. Kudos to Cleage who also addresses many of our societal woes, delicately weaving such relevant issues as teenage pregnancy, HIV and crime into the main storyline. However, Cleage's biggest achievement is that, at the same time, she is able to convey a sense of hope, and a commitment to living life with love, compassion and vitality. You go girl!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely captivating! I couldn't put it down
Review: Faith. That is the word that leaps out from the pages of this book. A powerful lesson; no matter what blows life deals to you, there is still love, laughter, and a reason for living. What a powerful and motivating story! I was extremely entertained by the book but I also came away having a learned a lesson. This book gave me a chance to reevaluate the circumstances of life. As a "white girl" reading this I became more aware of the African American culture as well. This is by far one of the best books I have ever purchased. I hope to see more novels from Pearl Cleage in the future.
Rating: 
Summary: Not great, but not bad.
Review: This was our book club's first selection. Compared to some of the things we've read since, this looks better and better. The author has an enjoyable writing style and the book with full of inspiring ideas, mostly from the sister, a secondary character in the book. We felt the author took the easy and trendy way out by giving the main character AIDS and using it as a metaphor for immortality. The plot was predictable, but well-crafted. Not another "War and Peace," but certainly worth the time to read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and entertaining reading
Review: Our Book Club, Noir Soeur decided to read Ms Cleage's book and were not in the least bit sorry. It was an excellent and entertaining read. The characters are vivid, real and human. Bravo to Ms. Cleage for writing about a character who realizes that you can not always run with the "Jones". Ava realizes it takes a real human being to accept their own faults and the faults of others. The character grew stronger in the knowledge that everyone has something to offer to someone. Kudos Ms. Cleage for writing about the unconditional love people have for each other and how important that type of love is for everyone no matter what stage of their life they are. The baby Imani was a great metaphor for what unconditional love is and how the main characters in the book would do anything to have it in their lives. Imani serves as a catalyst for the love that Ava shares with Eddie (whom we have decided is a real man!) Thanks for the good read Ms. Cleage, we look forward to the next one.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling from one pgae to the next
Review: A must read for all African American women! The words of Cleage's novel are memorible. Her characters seem so close that they could be your neighbors! A truly heart warming novel
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