Over winter break, I decided that I needed to read books that are more substantial. Sure, romance novels are good for a night in away from the bad weather, but after the first 10 books, the stories do tend to repeat themselves. I knew I had to break away from the monotony. I went to the library and spent a good hour just looking at book summaries, picking the ones I thought would interest me. One book in particular caught my eye. The book was called Big Girls Don’t Cry by Connie Briscoe.
The book follows 30 years in the life of Naomi Jefferson, a black girl growing up in a middle-class family in the 1960s. The story starts during the civil rights movement just after the assassination of President Kennedy. Naomi goes from being a 10-year-old who worrys about piano lessons, to being a 16-year-old who worrys about losing her virginity in less than 50 pages, so it is not a long and drawn out childhood.
Racism is shown in the bits and pieces of everyday life. The violence and unrest that is happening during the civil rights movement barely touches the Jefferson family’s life. Joshua, Naomi’s brother, becomes obsessed with the movement, particularly with the Black Panthers and their violent way of dealing with racism. Naomi, herself, sees the need for action, but as she is growing up her thoughts are more self-centered. That is, until Joshua is killed in a car accident on his way to a demonstration. From then on, her life loses that sheen of innocence that had shielded her.
This is a great book because it tells not only of the struggle that Naomi has faced to become a successful black businesswoman, but it also shows a girl trying to find her identity and become comfortable in her own skin. Her journey is one that all women can relate to, one of self-discovery and romance.