Rated of 5
by E.J. DeQuincy Civil Rights through a soap bubble
I am shocked that this book has become a best seller. I found it both intellectually and emotionally dishonest to the point of cringing. The author's voice of the black maids came across as hokey and patronizing. The "good" white character of Skeeter, weak and one dimensional. I find it astonishing this writer is being taken seriously as a major new talent. I didn't even find the book that readable after about the first fifty pages. Why would Minnie and Abilene agree to being interviewed by such a callow and opportunistic character as Skeeter was beyond belief. All the characters are so emotionally and politically naive it insults the reader's intelligence.
Rated of 5
by Terry Smith, M. A. An exceptional and enthralling account of the old South
I could not help but cry as I read Stockett's novel of interest. I could not put the book down, for I am a product of both a mother and a grandmother who served as the "HELP." The stories they related to me in my adult years were unbelievable and heart-wrenching. The things they tolerated, yet they remained quiet and cooperative, knowing that all they endured was for their babies to have a roof over their head and food in their little stomachs. Stockett has done a superb job in capturing the real flavor of that era about which America does not wish to verbalize. I can hardly wait for the movie adaptation to appear. Indeed, I am a fan of this great writer.
Rated of 5
by Mel Children of the help
My grandmother was "the help". I grew up knowing that she'd spent her life loving children like MaeMo. She told me stories about the children who needed her to love them. I have a picture of my grandmother right out of Miss Leefolt's bridge club, where she's holding a silver tea service; wearing a freshly washed white uniform just like Aibileen. Thankfully, unlike Minny, my Grandmother didn't groom my mother to grow up and get her own white family. While The Help captured the complexity between the Black domestics and the white families they proudly served, the children of the help have a side that's yet to be told.
Rated of 5
by Ann How did this exist?
I grew up in the time frame described in The Help. I was the white child loved and nurtured by the black maid who ate in the kitchen and used a separate bathroom. I can not explain how amazing and freeing it is to finally read something like this book that captures such a difficult and confusing part of my young life so clearly. My mind will never really be able to come to rest with what my childhood taught me about race. I have an illusion that all black women are loving and a guilt for every bad thing all black people have suffered. I know the truth but my emotions are still stuck back in my young years where the black and white people I loved so much seemed not to notice all the meaness. I have long ago given up trying to resolve my feeling but it is very good to know my experience is understandable and shared by others who lived through this time of social insanity.
Rated of 5
by Abby Great Read
This was one of the best novels I have read in a long long time... Thank you Kathryn Stockett for giving it to us to read. Looking forward to the movie. How lucky we are to have someone to open our eyes to the way things were in 1960.
Rated of 5
by Stacey Disappointed on the ending
The book is well-written and I throughly enjoyed the characters. It was a long book which I don't mind since it was very enjoyable. The last few chapters I was getting concerned since I knew the ending was soon and I did not read any situations coming up that would develop a good ending. The ending was very disappointing in that it was too easy and actually I believe it was allowing the author to do a sequel to this novel. I don't appreciate that possibility due to my time reading this novel. The ending just seemed like a hurried effort and it certainly was not very original to the story.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
The best book I've read in a very long time and the first ever Bo Caldwell novel for me. I'd never before read anything about missionaries to China,...
read more
With a poetic voice, Ratner plunges us into this personal trial of a royal family wrenched from their home in Phnon Penh, Cambodia, during the late...
read more
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
read more
Amazon cuts off 5200 affiliates in Minnesota(Jun 19 2013) With Minnesota's online sales tax law due to take effect July 1, Amazon has played a familiar card by cutting ties with 5,200 members of its Associates...
Full Story
of 5
by E.J. DeQuincy 
of 5
by Terry Smith, M. A. 
of 5
by Stacey 
