The author beautifully depicted her memories using free style verse. This was a short read. It's quite compelling and makes you want to finish it in one sitting. I thought the author was going to delve into civil rights activism a little more but, given her particular age at that time, I suppose she already laid out for us as much as she was involved. I wasn't particularly quite taken in with every poem and I didn't really form an emotional bond with this book. Nevertheless, I'm glad to have read a book about young black woman. And I enjoyed the sprinklings of haikus throughout the novel.