A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League
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- ISBN13: 9780767901260
- Condition: USED – Very Excellent
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Product Description
At Ballou Senior High, a crime-infested school in Washington, D.C., honor students have learned to keep their heads down. Like most inner-city kids, they know that any special attention in a place this treacherous can make you a target of violence. But Cedric Jennings will not swallow his pride, and with unwavering support from his mother, he studies and strives as if his life depends on it–and it does. The summer after his junior year, at a program for minorities at MIT, he gets a fleeting glimpse of life outside, a glimpse that turns into a face-on challenge one year later: acceptance into Brown University, an Ivy League school.
At Brown, finding himself far behind most of the additional freshmen, Cedric must manage a bewildering array of intellectual and social challenges. Cedric had hoped that at college he would finally find a place to fit in, but he discovers he has small in common with either the white students, many of whom come from privileged backgrounds, or the middle-class blacks. Having traveled too far to turn back, Cedric is left to rely on his faith, his intelligence, and his determination to keep alive his hope in the unseen–a future of acceptance and reward that he struggles, each day, to envision.Amazon.com Review
Ron Suskind won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 1995 for his tales on Cedric Jennings, a talented black teenager struggling to make it in one of the worst public high schools in Washington, D.C. Suskind has expanded persons features into a full-part nonfiction narrative, following Jennings beyond his high-school graduation to Brown University, and in the tradition of Leon Dash’s Rosa Lee and Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here, delivers a compelling tale on the struggles of inner-city life in modern America. While it appears to have a pleased ending (with Jennings earning a B average in his sophomore year), A Hope in the Unseen is not lacking a few caveats (at times, Jennings feels very much alienated from his white peers). Trite as it may sound to say, this book teaches a lesson about the virtue of perseverance, and it’s certainly worth reading. –John J. Miller
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Save your money, but more importantly SAVE YOUR TIME!
I would have rather gone to the doctor for a proctology exam!
This was probably the MOST OVERRATED BOOK I HAVE VER READ!
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
It was required for me to read this for college. I would not have read it otherwise. It was dull.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
A Hope in the Unseen was an engaging read and I absolutely fell in the like with the beginning. Cedric’s life was place into a perspective that I could connect to and it was as if I could see everything through is eyes. It is a tale that is uplifting and can be appreciated by people of any gender or color.
But, I did find a few things to frown upon. One part of the book that bothered me was the constant racial labeling. Understandably it is one of the main themes throughout the tale and it is what makes this book so appealing to many. You get to see a struggling young black man make it out of a situation where many others would have gotten swallowed up. Yet, to me it became annoying because when I would finally reach a moment when I could connect to the characters as people the writer, and sometimes Cedric, would draw the whole focus back to who was what race and where they come from. It is fantastic to be proud of who you are and what your background is but it doesn’t have to define you.
During one of the later chapters we encounter Cedric and Zayd eating lunch. Zayd’s friend, Josh, wanders over and immediately Cedric makes a remark about he should not be seen with two white guys. Whether he meant it jokingly or not it hurt Josh’s feelings and made an awkward situation. Maybe it’s because I just don’t know it but I reflect it was a small insensitive of Cedric. This was the only flaw that I had problems ignoring. It just seemed as if Cedric felt that he was entitled to be at Brown simply because he was a minority. Even if he wasn’t in the minority, I sense a certain attitude that develops from attending an ivy league institution. It is nearly as if by having your name on their roster that it makes you superior to everyone else.
This is certainly not the case and if people to hold on to such a mentality is disturbing.
Another problem I had with the novel was that after finishing such an uplifting tale you start wondering what is next and if the system has ever changed. Sure, Cedric made it out and became successful but what about everyone else who was left behind? What about the students who were not as academically inclined or persons who were not fortunate enough to have people supporting and pushing them like Cedric did? This book gives people an insight into a world that many are oblivious to. This could have been a fantastic opportunity to open people’s eyes about social injustice and to spark their interest in finding a way for more students to become like Cedric. I judge the leader could have steered this book into apt a link between the readers and social activism. Plenty of people have either had similar experiences or are now more aware of such situations and would be more than pleased to support and contribute to any programs that are trying to turn this around. I judge more could have been done with A Hope in the Unseen in this regard.
All in all, this tale was honestly appealing and inspiring. It was certainly helpful to read about the transitions from high school to college and to see how one person dealt with the common worries of university life. But, I do not see myself recommending this to many people and I judge that it is highly overrated. I do not judge it is “formula shattering” as one reviewer described it. In fact I reflect it follows the basic guidelines to any underdog tale. I felt as if I could have been reading any number of tales, except with a different setting and character. A Hope in the Unseen is excellent for classroom reading assignments or book clubs because it has many discussion points and may lead readers to be more aware of the various issues it touches on. Additional than that, I must truthfully say that I would not have read this agreed the chance to choose it for myself.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5
The tale itself is appealing, but the way the leader tells it is questionable. He writes as if omniscient. Like he can read everyones mind. Doesn’t question direct questions. Tries to place himself out, even though he must be intruding rather heavily. But, the theme matter is very compelling, and well detailed.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
The tale of Cedric Jennings overcoming major obstacles was very uplifting and inspirational. But, the tale was overwritten. It was bogged down with many insignificant details. I establish myself skimming it at times in order to get to the leader’s point. All in all, a worthwhile read.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5