
Pieces of Why
Reviews

A student of mine brought this book in and told me that I had to read it. Having previously known nothing about the book, only a little about the author, I picked it up here and there while my students read during English class until I got to point where I wanted to extend their reading time so that I could continue reading this book. Going creates a heart-breaking realistic tale of a young girl, Tia, who lives in a lower-income, diverse neighborhood of New Orleans with her mother and the taint of a father in prison for robbery, at least that's what Tia believes about her father when the narrative begins. Tia and her best friend, Keisha, sing in a local choir, the Rainbow Choir, a drive-by shooting that results in the death of a young child less than a year old reopens old wounds and restarts old rumors that paint Tia with the taint of her father, not just an armed robber. I highly recommend this book.

