Sing, Unburied, Sing

SING, UNBURIED, SING
by Jesmyn Ward

 Award: National Book Winner 2017

 Nominations: Carnegie Finalist 2018, Dublin Longlist 2019, Kirkus Finalist 2017, LA Times Finalist 2017, National Book Critics Circle Finalist 2017, Orange Prize Finalist 2018, PEN/Faulkner Finalist 2018

 Date Read: May 29, 2020

This novel came up in a timely fashion as cities across America rise up in protest against the senseless killing of George Floyd. I am simultaneously in awe of how fragile life is and how disgustingly dispensable black life is. The video of this killing is nothing short of a snuff film by a smug, self-satisfied white man drunk on his own power.

 Sing, Unburied, Sing follows three main characters - Leonie, Jojo and Richie, each having their own voice throughout. Of course, Jojo captured my attention as a child working his way to becoming a man. Jojo has just turned 13 and is trying to hold his own in his family, yet, he has more responsibility than any 13 year old I know. Jojo wants to be tough but he is a sensitive soul, struggling in his relationship with his mother, bracing for the loss of his grandmother and serving as primary care-taker for his younger sister Kayla. He has so much going on and throughout, I just wanted to tell him everything will be okay, even if I don't know that to be true.

 Leonie is struggling with her own demons and her children take second place to her love for Michael, her baby's daddy. Michael gets out of prison and instantly they are both using meth together again, becoming like ghosts in the family house.

As with all of Ward's books, Sing is rich throughout with the struggles of black families in America today from poverty and drug use to incarceration and remaining the focus of police. 

 Ward has also introduced two characters who have passed on but only few can see them. Jojo sees Richie when he infiltrates their car so he can make his way back to Pop. Leonie keeps seeing her dead brother, Given, but only when she's high. With the passing of their grandmother, both of these souls are set free to find their journey home. 

 "The place is the song and I'm going to be part of the song."

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