Rating: 
Summary: I wish I hadn't bothered
Review: Nobody's perfect, Oprah. This book had absoloutly no plot. Clara dies within the first pages, and then for awhile, nothing happens. Actually, nothing else happens during the whole novel. It returns more to the life of the family, and this is good and all-but what ever happened to Clara's memory? The end of the short novel isn't really an ending, either-the book just kind of stops. Maybe next time she can do better.
Rating:
Summary: a River of disappointments
Review: Having read several of Oprah's selections, I naturally expected the same excellent, satisfying, well-developed story from this selection. Boy, was I ever surprised. This is a book that you force yourself to finish, just so you can move on to something else. I kept waiting for something to happen, as if the story was building up to some climactic moment...then it was over. There was no point, no moral, no peak...no moment of understanding, of real 'connection' with the characters. Frankly, I felt cheated.
Rating: 
Summary: An undeveloped story
Review: This story had such potential, but the author went nowhere with it. The story was supposed to be about how the accidental drowning of a child affected the rest of her family, especially Johnnie Mae, who was responsible for the child when the accident happened. After the first chapters, it was like Clara's death didn't affect the family at all. It was just life as usual until much later in the book when Johnnie Mae returns to the scene of the drowning. This is the first hint that she even thought about the accident. I was disappointed in the progression of the book, but I understood it a little better after I learned some of the history of the author, whose own child died. I can understand wanting to write about an event without writing about it directly, but this book needed a little more direction and a lot more plot development. It's not a book that will stick in your memory for very long.
Rating:
Summary: A few good pages do not make a good book. Sorry
Review: I felt this book needed more of a plot...some kind of resolution, something to let the reader know that this was not just some train-of-thought mumbo jumbo. Something! Something more! What I did appreciate about this book was the way in which Clarke dealt with racism. I especially liked the questions that young Johnnie Mae kept asking when confronted with such blatant examples of inequality. It seemed like Johnnie Mae was asking herself the same questions that blacks must ask themselves today when confronted with such a hateful thing as racism. The fact that Johnnie Mae was relentless in her questioning put her at odds with the older, more experienced blacks, many of whom had almost resigned themselves to their place, it seems, until Johnnie Mae infuses them with hope at her swimming competition. I liked Johnnie Mae's sense of self worth and bravery. I thought the interactions between Johnnie Mae and Pearl were funny and touching; although there were too few of them to make up for the book's shortcomings. I think the author should re-write this book and concentrate more on the rest of Johnnie Mae and the other Bynums' lives. Personally, I would have liked to see Johnnie Mae go to Howard University, like her swimming coach, or fall in love and marry Charlie. Aside from Johnnie Mae, Calvin was ripe with possibilities.
Rating:
Summary: borrow it from the library
Review: I'm not really sure where this book lost it's focus, but it did. Some nice touches throughout, but they were never brought together to create a complete enjoyable story.
Rating:
Summary: This book lacks direction
Review: I have been reading this short novel every night for the past week and I am only half way through it. I am very close to placing it on the booshelf unfinished. I find the book to be a jumble of words with no direction or focus. I think Oprah struck out with this one.
Rating:
Summary: Now what?
Review: I was captivated by the story, but there was no conclusion, no ending, no real wrap-up. I put this down and thought "Okay, now what?" It was short and sweet, but nothing really came of the story. I was really drawn in by the characters and by what COULD have happened, but let down by the ending.
Rating:
Summary: If I could give only a half star I would
Review: After reading almost the entire Oprah collection, I couldn't understand why she would choose this. A good description of this work would be a jumble of words with no direction. I couldn't put myself in the life of the character, or feel any emotion at all. There is only one good use for this book and that would be as a substitute for sleeping pills.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre, though some parts are quite thought provocative
Review: A very short novel which somehow suits my appetite well, butthe author was not very focused on the fact that Clara died, as some parts it drifted off to some plots which can stand by itself without Clara's death. A very clear picture of racism in Carolina and a nice ending which is quite heart warming. But then again, Clara's death was not the theme.
Rating:
Summary: Oprah, what were you thinking!
Review: A no-go, girl. It isn't that the book is bad, it just is undeserving of the attention you have given it. The prose is sloppy, the characters undeveloped, and the imagery is just not there. The idea is great, it just needs a few more edits. The only character I felt anything for was the poor kitten. I'm disappointed, I expected more from your book club. Hope you do better next time.
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