Rating: 
Summary: Explanation or Exploitation?
Review: I found this book to be well-reported, well-written, and often insightful. That said, it leaves a bad taste, as did "There Are No Children Here," "Savage Inequalities," "Rosa Lee," etc. No doubt the authors of these books are motivated by their passionate desires to expose these "hidden" worlds to a wider audience. Yet, I cannot turn a blind eye to another motivation of equal or greater importance. These are "Pulitzer" books, consciously conceived to draw publicity and win awards for the author. There is no greater heroic act in America today than for an Ivy degreed, Volvo-driving white (or similarly credentialed black) man to "hang" with a struggling ghetto kid, hear the gun shots at night, be overwhelmed by the stench of the projects, be stunned by the differences in their respective lives. If you're gonna do a blockbuster, why spend a year in Bosina or the Congo or some other hellhole when you've got an All-American one right here in Our Nation's Capital? You can do your Anacostia thing, hop on the Metro, and be back in Chevy Chase in a half-hour. I think back to Janet Cooke's Pulitzer, later revoked, for her Washington Post series about a very young boy addicted to heroin. When researched, it turned out that no such boy existed, that "Jimmy" was cobbled together from many subjects and the author's vivid imagination. I am not suggesting that these authors' books are not factually based. However, I think she and they share a primary motivation: to cook up the most salacious tale possible. And I think their methods are almost identical. However, unlike Cooke, they employ only white lies, not frauds. Ultimately, these books are a sort of intellectual pornography. We the educated, affluent, socially conscious reader, get to peek through a grimy curtain at that freak show on the other side of town. Yet, to actually talk with one of these people, to visit Anacostia or visit Cedric's apartment: these are fantasies. Instead, we read these books to "get off."
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful!
Review: This book proved to be extremely compelling and powerful. I breezed through it very quickly, unable to close it, but then when I reached the end I was sad that my journey by Cedric's side had ended. This book gave me a look of the inside of an African-American, inner-city boy's life, an insight that I had never before experienced. It really opened my eyes to the quality of life and the strength and sheer courage that it takes for one to overcome it. Most of all however, this book was an inspiration to me, being a junior in high-school myself, I have so much more than Cedric did, and I take it for granted. I learned to use what I am lucky enough to have in my advantage. If Cedric can climb that mountain, make that journey, then I can as well. Thus far, Cedric has lead a trying, yet ultimately satisfying life. I can only dream of doing what Cedric has. He rose above the ghetto and is moving forward, and through this feat has accomplished in twenty years, what many dream of completing in a lifetime; and in doing so has taught others that nothing can stand in the way of a dream that's combined with determination and faith. Cedric has given us a hope in the unseen.
Rating: 
Summary: Reflections on the journey of writer and subject
Review: Beneath each page of "A Hope in the Unseen," there is unwritten subtext about the bond between a white, middle-class guy--with a wife, two kids and a mortgage--and a young black male from what is often called the "other Ameica." I first met Cedric Jennings in 1994, when I was reporting about national affairs for the Wall Street Journal. In the last four-and-a-half years, I've seen him grow from a gangly, 16-year-old, crouching in an urban war zone, to a young man, now 21, of gravity and grace and unshakable faith in the promise of this country. And he's seen me change, as well. During the reporting of the book--the two and a half years it took Cedric to climb from his blighted Washington , D.C. high school to the start of his sophomore year at Brown University-I had to preserve some reportorial distance. If I affected his path, his journey would lose its representational resonance. We agreed on rules and stuck to them. I couldn't advise or guide him in any way, even though dilemmas that beset him in his high school, church, family and, later, his dorm and college classroom, were often searing. How did it work? Let me offer a few specifics for readers who wonder. I often followed him at 20 paces through the halls of Ballou High, close enough so I hear what was unfolding, but distant enough that other students wouldn't know who I was watching. We developed a "back channel" of late night phone calls-often lasting hours where he would describe his feelings at various moments of his soon-finished day, whether in high school or college. While Cedric, with a 960 SAT score, is clearly an affirmative action student at Brown-one of the country's most selective colleges-it's important to note that he was accepted without any boost from having appeared in stories in the Wall Street Journal. Document searches and interviews with Brown's admission office show that they didn't know about the stories-he was just another name in the pile. Cedric, never much on self-promotion, didn't mention the Journal series in his application. No, Cedric did it all on his own. Midway through his freshman year, when he was beset with social confusion and academic dread- challenges that seemed certain to force an abandoning of college and a return to his blighted neighborhoood in D.C.-he reflected that he often felt "like a nocturnal animal, blinking in the light" and that his eyes were "slowly adjusting." That comment I took as a sign of precious self-knowledge. Now, as he prepares to start his senior year, Cedric is well into the light. He gets solid grades, is double-majoring in math and education, socializes with kids from many realms of the Brown campus and is plotting out a future that may include business school. There are still hurdles he faces as he pushes forward on his journey, but he is increasingly light-footed-burdened, if you will, with less baggage-and the obstacles are more easily cleared. The book's narrative ends in the summer of 1996. Since then, he and I could relax and just be friends. Our families often get together. We talk almost every day, just to catch up. A year ago, with the book nearly done, I visited him at Brown and we walked the campus. Early on, I had decided something: if the book made any money, I would give half of all profits to Cedric and his mother. But I didn't want Cedric to be expecting money. This is publishing, after all. Even acclaimed books rarely clear a profit. As I walked with him, explaining, for the umpteenth time, the long-shot vagaries of a literary endeavor, he cut me off. "Right, you've told me this about ten times-I get it," he said, with a shrug. And then he smiled brightly. "But, hell, a guy's gotta dream." His comment stopped me in my tracks. "Yea," I said, shaking my head, as we both started laughing, "Guy's gotta dream." Among the many things that Cedric has taught me is that dreaming is like breathing. We must do it to be healthy, to survive. Many of us-in these literal, sophisticated times-fail to recognize that dreaming of a better life for ourselves, or for our children, or, maybe, for the life of our country can nudge us from the familiar terrain of what is to the uplands of what might be. For Cedric and me, the way the book is touching people's hearts is like a dream made flesh. Readers are laughing and crying and contacting us-hundreds of them, at this point-to tell us how that book has changed their lives. Our gratitude and excitement is beyond expression. All I know, is that a once world-wise white guy and a headstrong black kid suddenly seem to have countless partners in discovering the unseen bonds that, someday, might bring us together as one nation, one people. God bless you all, Ron Suskind
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book of 1998
Review: This is a must read, for anyone who cares about education, and the poor, and a hero for our times.This is an amazing young man, and one who is truly inspirational.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: A hopeful portrait about what can happen under adverse conditions, particularly when one has faith in God. Cedric's life is a clear example of how generational poverty can impact the life of a student who seeks to interface with middle-class America. Although the book ends without knowing if Cedric has finished college, it is evident that he will - and that all of his dreams will come true.
Rating:
Summary: A great story
Review: This is a geat story that I devoured in two days. The <i>Wall Street Journal</i> series is written both more compellingly and more compactly, however; the book is at times too drawn out. It also at times seems to be making petty dorm politics into lasting social commentary when it may just be typical dorm politics. Over all, very much worth reading. One audience that will particularly enjoy it: soon-to-be college students, particularly ones from lower socioeconomic classes.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting. Life-changing. A MUST-READ for educators.
Review: Riveting! Moving! Powerful! I read this book in two days, wanting to know more, still more, about these real life flesh-and-blood people, their struggles and their goals. Suskind does an extraordinary job of drawing the reader into Cedric's world, one of the best examples of this I've ever seen in non-fiction. Because all of the main characters are so clearly drawn, the context of Cedric's life comes into clear focus. I could feel the horror of his situation, the roller coaster of emotions in his unbelievable resolve and perseverance in climbing out of the ghetto, and then coping with the equally difficult hurdle of surviving in the "foreign" culture at Brown. How fitting that Brown's motto is "In Deo Speramus"....In God We Hope! A MUST-READ for educators, for students, for anyone who hopes to make a difference in another's life. It is a life-changing book, creating a new sensitivity and desire to support all the Cedrics of the world. I have ordered several copies with the hope of spreading the seeds of hope and inspiration this story conveys. DON'T MISS IT!!
Rating:
Summary: Uplifting and inspiring read.
Review: It is a rare thing that a book can change the way I think or believe about some fundamental issue. This book did just that. Well written and an easy read, this journey through a part of Cedric Jenning's life caused me to rethink my views on affirmative action. Getting inside Cedric's world and thoughts gave me a persepctive I just didn't have before, and I learned that I've taken too much for granted in thinking that the road can be equal for all. Don't worry that this is a book that will bring you down with sad stories of dreams unrealized. This is a book to inspire, to educate and to enjoy. Read it and learn.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating insight to the life and mind of the ghetto kid.
Review: This story provides uncommon insight into the life of a young man and his American community that too few of us understand. Finally we have an inside look at the harsh realities of a great, poor kid in the American urban environment who thinks and dreams and struggles to find his way in an American culture that ususally ignores his plight. The story is all Cedric Jennings' story and not the author's. This is a must read for anyone who truly cares to understand the enormous chasm between the classes and the races in the U.S. Suskind tells Cedric's story with enough journalistic detachment that I can draw my own conclusions and analyze the complex life of the ghetto kid without political or social filters usually imposed by middle or upper-class news media or the publishing industry.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT READING!
Review: This is a great book about a great kid! Like Cedric Jennings, I attended the wonderful MITE program at MIT. That's what persuaded me to purchase this book when I happened to see it online. That's not what kept me reading this book in every free moment I found. I literally could not put the book down; I read it in the morning before going to work, during lunch, and at night as I lay in bed! This is a moving, meaningful story and Suskind manages to tell it in a way that is not heavy handed nor exploitive. The book moves swiftly through four years of Cedric Jenning's life, yet provides great insight not only into Cedric's life, but those around him. I only hope Suskind delivers a book which covers the next four years of Cedric's life. I am very interested in how his life unfolds. What great experiences lie ahead for him? Kudos to Ron Suskind, and most definitely kudos to Cedric Lavar Jennings. Keep up the great work, both of you!
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