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From Publisher's Weekly

March 4, 1986
This novel about a black family living in St. Louis in 1957 centers on Betsey, 13, who is restless, wants to "be somebody'' and is being bused to a white school. Her mother and grandmother oppose and her father supports integration. When the father plans to take Betsey and her siblings to demonstrate against a racist hotel, the mother leaves home. PW stated that ``by depicting and personalizing the racial tensions of the 1950s through the lives of appealing characters, Shange has produced a memorable, quietly powerful book.''