The Silence of Our Friends

Hmm. I understand that this is a fictionalized memoir, based on Long's childhood experiences? I feel like its primary audience would be other white people who grew up in the 60s? It assumes a fair amount of knowledge about the civil rights movement–could maybe be paired with some other writing about the black experience in a classroom setting? But on its own might be a little hard for a lot of teens to grasp, despite its ostensible teen/child narrators.

Still: it's a well-done recollection of segregation's effects on a white family (setting aside the question of do we really need more books about white people facing segregation?), and Nate Powell's art is excellent.

Short Review: I picked this up because I like the artist. But didn't know anything about the writer. I don't think the writing is great, but it is not horrible either. This is a 3.5 star, which I am rounding up for a worthwhile story.

The story is semi-autobiographical story of two men, and their families, in 1967 Houston. There is a protest and a cop is killed. One of the men is a reporter that knows the truth, one is the lawyer for the student protesters (SNCC) that were accused of killing the cop.

The relationship between the two families and men is the center of the story. But the history is important, even though this was not a big moment in Civil Rights era history.

I think it is worth reading, but I don't think it is nearly as good as Nate Powell's March trilogy.

Full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/silence-of-our-friends/