Excellent, recommended for high school & public libraries

books:


	• Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America Nathan Mc Call Vintage, 1994 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 147 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Excellent, recommended for high school & public libraries

Whether you admire or despise the author, this is an outstanding book. I bought it for my library (large international school in Switzerland) and read it when it first came out in the early 90's. It moved me in a way few books ever have, and I read a lot. I've just re-read it (March 2008) and it is as powerful to me now as it was over a decade ago.

Lots of reviews on amazon judge this author one way or another, but I leave it to the reader to think critically and honestly about the book's message.

I just purchasd this book for my current library (large school in Hong Kong). I recommend it for high schools as the issues of adolescence and personal growth are very relevant to teens, it supports humanities curriculum and introduces debate on human rights, civil rights, racism, responsibility, and much more. I especially recommend it for public libraries in North America as everyone at some point has encountered dilemmas and frustrations such as McCall's (though perhaps not for the same reason or in the same situation). His message is so powerfully positive and hopeful and so brilliantly written, that this is one of my all-time favorite books.

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Powerful, honest, insightful

First of all, if you start this book, you really should push yourself to get through the first half. That part is brutal, and unfortunately, if people stop there, it might only confirm some shallow stereotypes about black men. McCall and his crew were very dangerous, destructive teenagers. However, in recounting the later part of his maturity, McCall makes clear that there are still powerful societal influences that instill frustration, rage, and self-hatred in black people, forces that can make it difficult to resist lashing out or crumbling inward with compulsive, abusive, and self-destructive behavior.

America costs itself so much talent by continuing to abuse its non-white people, subtly beating them down in countless ways, rather than building them up so they can see, live, and act the good that is in all of us. (The obvious disparities in black and white school systems is only one of the more obvious ways that this collective beat-down still goes on.) McCall shows how he managed to draw on a solid family background and his own willpower to push away the negative messages and temptations of his environment. He also does an excellent job of showing how an instilled self-hatred prevents so many others from living up to their potential. Thank you Mr. McCall for showing us your exemplary self so honestly, warts and all.

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You won't be able to put it down...

I read this book while a passenger on a drive to Florida. It was so compelling that I found myself reading sections to my husband as we drove. This was about three years ago. We STILL mention issues from this book. Should be mandatory reading for young people....especially those from Portsmouth, where the writer grew up, and where we live today.

makes me wanna puke

although this book consists of parts where i thought i was going to puke (especially things done to girls), it still captured my attention. mccall delivers a personal REAL MESSAGE......this is the kind of talk some troubled teens need now a days instead of trying to be so politically correct all the time.....i read this book many years ago and i can still remember very vividly the events, thus it is an impacting book!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

A true-life Native Son for the 1990s--an African American Washington Post reporter who served time recounts his life and brilliantly shows why prison has become a rite of passage for many young black men. 2 cassettes.

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