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A Novel
by Christina Hammonds Reed
A 1960s teen pop group determined to conquer the music world must contend with the cost of fame—and a ghost with a grisly past—in this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Black Kids.
Odysseus Johnson dreams of musical stardom for his three sons: Roman, the rebel, more interested in being a teenager than a performer; Rocco, arguably the most talented of the bunch, but different in a way the world doesn't understand; and dutiful River, the youngest, who dreams of fame just like his dad.
Driving back from another failed audition in Detroit, the Johnson boys encounter the ghost of Christmas Jones the Third, an effervescent, if lonely, little Black boy who carries the scars of his horrific past as an orphan and minstrel sensation. Desperate for family, Christmas begs the Johnsons to bring him home with them. When Odysseus refuses, Christmas stows away in the family Cadillac.
Despite their initial horror, Christmas becomes a part of the Johnson family. With the promise of opportunities in California, Odysseus moves the family out west, and the boys' talent starts getting noticed. But just as the brothers are finally on the cusp of fame, Christmas commits a violent act that wreaks havoc on the Johnsons' lives and the family is torn asunder in the aftermath. Roman flees the country. Rocco is institutionalized. River's solo star rises. Christmas disappears.
Spanning decades, roving from the rapacious music industry and the ravages of Vietnam to the dark corridors of a mental institution and the very planes of the afterlife, The Johnson Four is epic in scope. And at its beating heart is the unforgettable story of a family trying to find their way back to one another.
"There are moments where Hammonds Reed heavy-handedly layers the melodrama, and her care with getting the details right about the Vietnam War or the early days of the AIDS crisis sometimes comes at the expense of more nuanced characterizations. But the novel is admirably and remarkably ambitious, capturing a family's internal struggles along with those of American society. A bulky, big-hearted family saga." —Kirkus Reviews
"The story becomes increasingly hard to follow as it stretches into the 1990s, with myriad continuity problems, but Reed pulls at the reader's heartstrings with her depictions of the characters' early promise and misfortune. It's a mixed bag." —Publishers Weekly
"Christina Hammonds Reed has crafted an unforgettable family saga that glitters with interwoven threads of fame, war, and the unquenchable longing for home. With a dynamic cast of characters and prose as soulful as the music it conjures, The Johnson Four is an epic that will have you questioning the nature of love and existence as you race through its pages." —Emma Brodie, author of Songs in Ursa Major
"At times uproariously funny and, at others, searingly tragic, The Johnson Four is an epic novel that not only embraces the luminous range of human emotion but deftly expands our understanding of all that we carry. With breathtaking ambition and lively storytelling, Christina Hammonds Reed spins a song of heartbreak and triumph that will echo with you far past the final pages... . An unforgettable achievement!" —Thao Thai, author of Banyan Moon
This information about The Johnson Four was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Christina Hammonds Reed's debut YA novel, The Black Kids, was a New York Times bestseller, a William C. Morris Award finalist, and a California Book Award Silver Medalist. She lives with her family in the Los Angeles area. The Johnson Four is her adult debut.
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