Rating: 
Summary: A stunning First Novel
Review: I feel as if I have waited a lifetime for someone to write this book. It's Dantesque in its reporting of someone experiencing hell, and all the more remarkable since the reporter is an eleven-year-old African American girl, Ellen. There isn't a wrong note in this story of Detroit's inner city or in the miracle of Ellen's escape and salvation. Rainelle Burton is a new voice and an absolutely true one.
Rating:
Summary: A stunning First Novel
Review: I feel as if I have waited a lifetime for someone to write this book. It's Dantesque in its reporting of someone experiencing hell, and all the more remarkable since the reporter is an eleven-year-old African American girl, Ellen. There isn't a wrong note in this story of Detroit's inner city or in the miracle of Ellen's escape and salvation. Rainelle Burton is a new voice and an absolutely true one.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful work
Review: I had a chance to read this book shortly after it was released. I was around 17 years old, and I understood it perfectly. The character Ellen really allows the reader to get inside of her head and know exactly what she's thinking.
To the reader who was confused about "glue," it represents any safe place. Odysseus had the same type of place in Homer's "The Odyssey..." Ithaca was what HE called it, did it confuse you that it wasn't named after a real place? Before you talk about how much of a horrible waste of time a book is to read, why not make sure you're not being narrow-minded? Perhaps when Ellen spoke of playing tag and being safe at glue, it should have meant something to you. Did you ever play tag? In fact, if you do a search for "glue" within this book, it usually is listed together with a derivative of the word "safe."
You have to read this book as if it's an autobiorgraphy told through dialogues with Clarissa... Not as if it was fiction. The book is so incredibly realistic that if you read it any other way, you're missing the point.
Great book... Would recommend it to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL READ
Review: I loved this book. It was a switch from the "sister girl" books that I normally read. It took me back to my high school english class where a book was dissected to find all the literary meanings and symbolizations. It was a hard read, but that made it all the better. I still havent figured out all the sympolization in the book, but I am definetly going to read it again and look a little deeper next time. Ellens character really moved me and I definetly thought about this book long after I finished reading.
Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL READ
Review: I loved this book. It was a switch from the "sister girl" books that I normally read. It took me back to my high school english class where a book was dissected to find all the literary meanings and symbolizations. It was a hard read, but that made it all the better. I still havent figured out all the sympolization in the book, but I am definetly going to read it again and look a little deeper next time. Ellens character really moved me and I definetly thought about this book long after I finished reading.
Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL READ
Review: I loved this book. It was a switch from the "sister girl" books that I normally read. It took me back to my high school english class where a book was dissected to find all the literary meanings and symbolizations. It was a hard read, but that made it all the better. I still havent figured out all the sympolization in the book, but I am definetly going to read it again and look a little deeper next time. Ellens character really moved me and I definetly thought about this book long after I finished reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Debut!
Review: I thought this was a great debut novel! Burton's style of writing is vivid! I felt great pain for Ellen, an 11-year-old African-American girl, as I read about her abuse and long-suffering in a totally dysfunctional environment. It was extremely sad to see that most of the physical, verbal, and mental abuse came from her immediate family, including her mother. The mother's reliance on the root worker's remedies to solve her marital problems, insecurities, and overall unhappiness exacerbates Ellen's misery because the root worker tends to involve Ellen as either the cause of the ills or part of the "cure". At the urging of the Root Worker, Ellen is subjected to illogical arguments that test her Christian faith, more sexual abuse, and ingestion of ungodly concoctions. Ellen's search for solace forces her into an alternate reality---I suppose this can be viewed as a mode of self-defense. Outsiders view her as peculiar and ostracize her even more. Most of the adults in the world tend to turn a blind eye to the outward physical abuse of this impoverished black child. Because she has no friends, she invents Clarissa-whom she confides her deepest thoughts. Luckily, she is befriended and rescued by a neighbor and things look up. The novel is told through the eyes of Ellen and I found it a little hard to follow at times, especially when defining relationships of some of the key characters and their backgrounds. There was lack of closure with some characters and I was left wanting to know more about their fate. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Debut!
Review: I thought this was a great debut novel! Burton's style of writing is vivid! I felt great pain for Ellen, an 11-year-old African-American girl, as I read about her abuse and long-suffering in a totally dysfunctional environment. It was extremely sad to see that most of the physical, verbal, and mental abuse came from her immediate family, including her mother. The mother's reliance on the root worker's remedies to solve her marital problems, insecurities, and overall unhappiness exacerbates Ellen's misery because the root worker tends to involve Ellen as either the cause of the ills or part of the "cure". At the urging of the Root Worker, Ellen is subjected to illogical arguments that test her Christian faith, more sexual abuse, and ingestion of ungodly concoctions. Ellen's search for solace forces her into an alternate reality---I suppose this can be viewed as a mode of self-defense. Outsiders view her as peculiar and ostracize her even more. Most of the adults in the world tend to turn a blind eye to the outward physical abuse of this impoverished black child. Because she has no friends, she invents Clarissa-whom she confides her deepest thoughts. Luckily, she is befriended and rescued by a neighbor and things look up. The novel is told through the eyes of Ellen and I found it a little hard to follow at times, especially when defining relationships of some of the key characters and their backgrounds. There was lack of closure with some characters and I was left wanting to know more about their fate. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Burton transfers her characters into you inner being
Review: Meet Ellen. A child who many have forsaken. Her mother. Her brother. The root worker. This finely crafted novel takes you through Ellen's life a she sees it; her hope for things to change for the better. Her conflicting religious beliefs. Her pain. Her sorrow. Her triumph. The thing I enjoyed most about this book was the fact that after I read it it still lingered in my mind. I liked the fact that while I was reading my emotions were running on overtime. When something bad happened, my heart sank. When something good happened, I almost cried tears of joy. Warning: This is not a "candy read". Expect to be affected. Expect to feel the emotions and terror Ellen feels. Expect to feel your heart wrench. Expect to feel set free. From now on, I will expect nothing less. Hats off to this talented new writer on a dazzling debut.
Rating:
Summary: good work rainelle!!
Review: Not since Resurrecting Mingus, have I read a book that has moved me as much as Rainelle Burton's The Root Worker. Ellen's story is a familar story, of the girl left behind. Hers is a story of physical, mental, and sexual abuse, that trancends the ordinary dysfunctional family. This unique tale is told in the voice of a girl whose voice has been muted to nearly everyone except her imaginary friend Clarissa. Even through the midst of angst and lonliness, Ellen story is vivid, uplifting, and somewhat humerous at times. Burton's done a wonderful thing in this story. She let us peep into the lives of an extraordinary, reluctant, heroine. Her imagery and symbolism is reminiscent of Alice Walker. If you want a book to read that's thoughtful, extremely well written, and even mystical, then this book will not dissapoint.
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