The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store- James McBride
Rating- 🤩🤩🤩🤩
Format- Ebook, Libby
Genre- Historical Fiction
When a skeleton is discovered during construction in 1972, authorities try to figure out how it ended up there. That is where the story starts. We go back in time to Chicken Hill, a place where poor Jewish immigrants and Black people lived together. Moshe and Chona married and lived in Chicken Hill. Moshe ran a theatre and Chona ran the Heaven and Earth Grocery store. Both were well known in the community. Moshe’s theatre was known for its integrated and diverse shows, music, and dances. Chona was known for being strong, stubborn, and supportive of those living in Chicken Hill. When a good friend asks them to take in a deaf and orphaned Black boy named Dodo, they didn’t hesitate. The state was looking to take him away and send him to an institute and Chona would do everything in her power to protect him. When the local white doctor comes into the store looking for the boy, he finds Chona alone and attacks her. Dodo jumps out to protect her but ends up being caught and sent to a mental institute. The community comes together to figure out a way to save Dodo from the hospital.
This book had a slow start. Honestly, I wasn’t sure that I would continue reading the book. I wanted to because I had heard good things about it, and I am glad that I did. There are a lot of characters in the book and they are all interconnected. Once their lives and stories start coming together, it makes the book so much better. One of the big themes that this book touches on is race and socio-economic status. Moshe and Chona were really ahead of their time. In that time period, racism and segregation were the norm but their closest friends were black and they were a full part of the community they lived in. They treated Dodo like her was their own child. Chona did everything that she could to protect him. I loved the way the book ended and how it all tied together in the end. I recommend this book and encourage anyone who might by on the fence about it to give it a read!
Sisterhood of Reading 
Leave a comment