Upper West Side Story by Susan Pashman ~ Nighttime Reading Center

June 5, 2015

Upper West Side Story by Susan Pashman

Book Title: Upper West Side Story
Author: Susan Pashman
Genres: Fiction, Adult fiction, Racial Issues, Political,
Publisher: Harvard Square Editions
Publish Date: May 28, 2015 (264 Pages, Paperback)
Disclaimer: I received this book from +Laura Fabiani iRead Book Tours for a book tour & an honest review
Buy the book: Amazon / Barnes & Noble
Connect with Author: Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads
Author Interview: Susan Pashman
Description: Meet Bettina Grosjean, a professor of Women's History, and her husband, a high-ranking environmental policymaker in the New York City mayor's office. Once a pair of student radicals, they are now raising their two brainy children on New York's Upper West Side. Upper West Side Story is the tale of fierce parental love tested in a startling eruption of racial hostility and political chicanery within the very community they have long loved and helped to build. Despite the deep love and affection they have for each other, their domestic life is suddenly thrown into crisis by a shocking and tragic event: During a school field trip, their son Max and his best friend, Cyrus, are horsing around when, in a freak accident, Cyrus falls down a flight of stairs. The fact that Cyrus is black, that his mother is Bettina's closest friend, that jealousy, suspicion and resentment have long been simmering in the community, and that there are powerful political forces at work as well-all conspire to reveal an ugly underbelly of the community the Grosjeans have worked so hard to fashion into a model of an enlightened, multiracial world. Upper West Side Story is also the story of a remarkable multi-racial friendship, a love of two women united by their ideals and their devotion to their children, then divided by events that spiral out of control.

Have you ever read a book about justice that going on in your world that important to all. You thought it was dealt with in a movement that happens 50 years.

You see it still going on today. Well, a book called "Upper West Side Story", bring it to light and questions if our race is still an uphill battle among us. I got this feeling while I was reading the story. We meet a mother who will do anything to protect her son. This story really turns out to be a well written about a boy who is white and a friend with a black boy. We learn about friendships. Matt and Curtis are best friends. Everything changes after a freak accident.

The real issues come out during this time. It affects the whole family but mostly Matt. Viola losses everything but does the community realize that Matt is a child of Viola as well as Curtis is to Bettina. It happens during a time when they were fooling around or goofing around. Racial issues and political issues arise will they overcome or will the charges damaged all including the boy and his family.