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August 12, 2009
Review: "When a Heart Turns Rock Solid" probes Lives of 3 Springfield MA brothers
Review: 'Rock' probes the lives of three Springfield brothers
By THE DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
"When a Heart Turns Rock Solid" (Pantheon Books), a window into the lives of three Puerto Rican brothers in Springfield slides open during their teenage years, affording readers a raw glimpse of their struggles with love, drugs and violence in a sociological study that spans nearly two decades.
We learn how Sammy Rivera does lines of coke in his sixth-grade classroom; how his older brother Fausto watches as an inmate eviscerates another with his bare hands; how the eldest brother, Julio, is the glue that holds the family together.
"When a Heart Turns Rock Solid" succeeds because author Timothy Black makes readers care about his subjects - or at least their stories - which are presented in a somewhat sympathetic light. Although Black relies heavily on dry data to explain how impoverished communities are affected by economic and political forces, the story of the three brothers remains captivating.
Despite enduring racist attitudes toward Puerto Ricans and a meager high school education, the brothers achieve varying degrees of sobriety, discipline and self-love as they grow up in Springfield, in the 1990s.
They occasionally abandon street life when they discover a sense of purpose through family, women or work.
"I know how you must feel about your teaching," Sammy tells the author as he attends culinary school, "because now I'm feeling passionate about something like you."
Julio is the most accomplished, earning accolades as a high school wrestler and football player. He becomes the first of the family to graduate from high school, and manages to build a solid street credibility. Few mess with the trained boxer and ruthless gang member.
Fausto seeks to emulate his older brother's successes, but flunking grades encouraged by a system that pushes him to the next grade level despite his near-illiteracy prevents him from joining any sports team.
However, his charisma and intellectual capacity override his shortcomings.
He is tapped at the last minute to give a speech at school, prompting his teacher to praise his poise and confidence. He also thrives at his job with the Boys Club, where his supervisor describes him as a "godsend."
But he later struggles to fill out an application to work there again, embarrassed to let anyone know he can barely read or write.
Sammy also struggles in school, and is the first to join the drug-dealing trade. He relishes how naive, pot-smoking white teens from a nearby town are impressed with him and the supposed ghetto he comes from. He takes them on a "field trip" to Springfield at their request, but upon arriving there, doesn't know what to do with them, so he takes them to his mom's house for a meal.
Humor helps them navigate from one disappointment to another, but they remain aware of their failures.
Julio manages to avoid drugs, but Fausto and Sammy fall prey to heroin. They also serve time in prison for various crimes and struggle to find normalcy after their release.
"The effects of prison you don't see 'em right away," Fausto says. "A lot of those things really break you, right, they disturb you - they disturb a part of your brain that's not meant to be disturbed."
The book has the same effect, if only by challenging your assumptions about the extent that external forces and a lack of individual responsibility and determination are to blame for the plight of marginalized communities.
Posted by lois at August 12, 2009 09:40 AM