Green (Sam Graham-Felson) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[P]rickly and compelling…Graham-Felsen lets boys be boys: messy-brained, impulsive, goatish, self-centered, outwardly gutsy but often inwardly terrified. The voice with which Graham-Felsen equips Green, overseasoned with hip-hop slang, is the epitome of this. At first blush it suggests Holden Caulfield as translated by Vanilla Ice.… Yet as the novel advances, and this street stud pose starts splintering, the voice itself gathers a kind of dorky poignancy, the reader sensing an unseen wobble upon Green's stiff, pale lip. Is it linguistic blackface, with all that implies, or a 12-year-old's guileless attempt to cobble together a voice of his own from what's nearest at hand?
Jonathan Miles - New York Times Book Review


One of the most original voices you’ll read this year.
Southern Living


(Starred review.) [S]ubtly humorous, surprisingly touching…. Where Graham-Felsen shines is in his depiction of the pressures put on Marlon to rise above his circumstances and to cope with his mother’s mental illness.… [M]emorable and moving.
Publishers Weekly


[Green] poignantly captures the tumultuous feelings of adolescence against the historical backdrop of a racially segregated city and country (Fall Pick).
Library Journal


(Starred review.) [S]uperb … a memorable first novel.… [Green is replete with] wonderful characters, fully realized and multidimensional.
Booklist


A white boy in a majority-black Boston middle school gets an education on race and friendship..… A well-turned if familiar race-themed bildungsroman.
Kirkus Reviews