A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors.
~Henry Ward Beecher ~

I really wanted to share this quote because I think it captures what happens in our classroom when we lose ourselves in a book we love.

The Help by Katherine Stockett

While I wasn't in the decision making process of choosing this title (totally my fault for not coming prepared) for my book club, iI was one of the best historical fiction titles that I have read in a long time. The chosen title, The Help, by Katherine Stockett did not disappoint me. It may not have been a book that I would have chosen on my own had I just read the jacket, but it came with good reviews from some intelligent women.

The most important thing about the book is it's setting. The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi from 1962-1964 and it is HOT there. The Civil Rights movement is starting, Jim Crow laws are being questioned and challenged, MLK is organizing a march in Washington and Kennedy has been assassinated. All of this, fuels the story, but it's still simmering in the background. I love it when a story's backdrop is interlaced with history. I had to ask my students if they would classify it as historical fiction or realistic fiction. The racism and sexism of the time are essential to the conflicts that the main characters face.

The main characters are all flawed, believable and endearing. I don't like it when an author puts a character on a shrine. I think it's much more believable to have realistic characters that you can possible relate to. There are two maids, that have been trained by their mothers and their mother's mothers to be maids and nannies to white women. They start training early on. I know that I was supposed to be shocked about the treatment of the maids by their bosses, but I wasn't. I saw plenty of this in the Dominican Republic. Many of the things that happened in the story were very common in DR but not backed up by laws like they were in Mississippi.

There were a few characters that I wished I could have continued a correspondence with to see where thier lives would have led them while others I cared to little for. My favorite character was Abileen, who was a maid to white families while the children were small. She usually left the families before she would start seeing the children become racists like their parents. When the author narrated from her point of view it was my favorite time. I loved her Baby Girl because I was able to see the little girl with her eyes. When she talks about the loss of her son and with it the loss of her dreams for him, it made me ache with her.

I recommend this book to folks that like their fiction interlaced with a lil' history, humor and sorrow. It's a package deal.