Synopses & Reviews
David Williams and his family have left the South for a new life up North. A summer marked by violence and bigotry led them to believe that their only salvation lay in moving to North Town.
A new life brings new experiences for David. He has never gone to school with white students. He has never ridden on a bus where he was not separated from the white passengers. Despite having to live in a run-down apartment, city life looks good to David at least for a short while.
It doesn't take long for David to learn that while he may be living in the "free" North, he is still treated as a second-class citizen. In rapid succession, two events change the course of David's life. The first is an unexpected encounter with the law, an experience that calls up all the terrors of his earlier troubles in the South. The second is a catastrophe in his family, which seems to end any hope for happiness in North Town.
This powerful novel, the second in Lorenz Graham's classic "Town" series, is set in the 1960s, and continues the story of David Williams, a landmark character in African American literature.
Review
"Lorenz Graham's quiet, simple prose carries you along, and suddenly you are struck by the depth and honesty, the truth of what you are reading." Clyde Robert Bulla
Review
"Lorenz Graham's carefully researched novels provide honest portrayals of real people who are a significant part of American history." Yetta Goodman, Ph.D.
Review
"Three cheers for the reissue of Lorenz Graham's classic novels! Young readers, both black and white, need them today more than ever." Tom Feelings
Review
"South Town and North Town were the bookends to a small library which I used to raise a teenage African American boy. Other titles included Black Boy by Richard Wright, and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. Each was invaluable; however, the Graham books were so accessible that I noticed those were the only two books my son refused to lend out an in fact kept privately secreted under his bed." Maya Angelou
Review
"Lorenz Graham was the scout who preceded the pioneers of African American literature. His work is a foundation stone for the extraordinary literature created in the last forty years." Arnold Adoff
Review
"The issues and challenges set forth by Lorenz Graham are timely and merit careful attention, for the similarities with today's society are striking. The 'Town' series remain a notable contribution in the field of literature for youth." Spencer G. Shaw, Ph.D.
Review
"For an African American writer, Lorenz Graham was treading uncharted ground, as were Langston Hughes and Richard Wright. Graham's 'Town' series remains his crowning achievement. It represents not just a milestone in juvenile literature, but in African American history as well." T. Ernesto Bethancourt
Synopsis
These classic novels, set during the Civil Rights era, follow the early years of David Williams, a young man who in the face of violence and bigotry struggles to keep alive his dream of becoming a doctor. A foreword by Rudine Sims Bishop and an afterword by the author's daughter, Ruth Graham Siegrist, Ph.D., place these remarkable novels in the context of their time (South Town was originally published in 1958.) Through the character of David Williams, young readers witness a turbulent era in American history, a period marked by unspeakable injustice and life-affirming hope.
About the Author
Lorenz Graham (1902-1989) was a pioneer in African American literature. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he grew up the son of an African Methodist Episcopal minister. While a student at the University of California at Los Angeles, he accepted a teaching position at a mission school in Monrovia, Liberia. It was there that Mr. Graham developed an interest in writing. In an effort to portray the lives of Africans honestly, he wrote Tales of Momolu and I, Momolu. Some years later, he wrote South Town, North Town, and Whose Town?, a trilogy of novels that presented an honest portrayal of the lives of African Americans. This was at a time when few novels about African Americans were available.