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Book Reviewed by:
Valerie Morales
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In If I Survive You, author Jonathan Escoffery portrays a family falling apart with grace. Main character Trelawny, the sensitive second son of Jamaican immigrants, endures racism and confusion. His overwhelmed parents can't nurse his insecurities; mostly they embarrass him, particularly when they speak patois in public. Trelawny is Jamaican by proxy. American by birth.
When Trelawny asks his mother if he is black, it feels like a profound moment. But Sanya doesn't understand the point of his question and offers a chaste genealogy lesson. Frustrated when he keeps pressing, she blurts, "I was never asked such stupidness before coming to this country. If someone asks ... you tell them, you are a little of this and a little of that." Trelawny knows that a threshold has just been crossed. He now has permission to hopscotch around identity based on the situation.
In college, Trelawny is...
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