Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush

by Virginia Hamilton

Book Overview

National Book Award Finalist * Newbery Honor Book * Coretta Scott King Award Winner

This towering classic from the esteemed author Virginia Hamilton "is like a thoughtfully designed African American quilt. It is finely stitched, tightly constructed, and rooted in cultural authenticity."*

Why had Brother Rush come to her, with his dark secrets from a long-ago past? What was the purpose of their strange, haunting journeys...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B002J34GIS
• ISBN13: 9780380651931
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Amistad Books for Young Readers
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

moving blend of the supernatural and the real

When Teresa first notices the handsome stranger out on the street, she falls hard for him. Several weeks later, he appears in her apartment, and it's only then that she knows that he's a ghost, Brother Rush. He takes Tree and her mentally challenged brother Dab on journeys into the past, and slowly Tree realizes in these glimpses of the past, Brother Rush may be telling her something about her own present. Hamilton's writing is wonderfully lucid and descriptive, showing Tree's thoughts in a language and idiom that perfectly express her character. Here's a passage I especially liked, from Tree's first meeting with Brother Rush in her apartment: "The sweatshirt she had on couldn't keep her warm. Yet she was aware of the moment when the cold turned into something she could live with. Fear was sealed inside her, like a tatter of paper from her ream. And if you opened the tatter, it would read: This is all the scared I can get. The categorizing part of my brain wants to say that this is fantasy, because it's a ghost story. I suppose technically it is, but it's so rooted in reality that the supernatural doesn't feel especially fantastic. It's simply a book about people, about Tree's relationships with her brother and her mother, who has to work so hard to keep the family going that she's rarely there, leaving Tree to take care of herself and Dab. It's a bittersweet book, full of loss and sadness, yet also full of love and hope.

Nakita At Richview Middle School

My book was about a girl and her brother. They lived alone in a house. The girl name was Tree. her brother name was Dab. It was a man will Tree thought it was. It was a ghost. She liked the ghost and she wanted to tell her brother but she did not know how. Dab was slow. He use to taik and get his words wrong. All the girls like him. tree use to see the ghost. It made her see her life that she have not done. a woman can to give them food to eat. They had a wonam who came to clean they house for them. The book was good. Tree had to go to school and look out for her brother. Tree was 15 and Dab was 17 years old. some people can relate to the book. So the book is good. Tre e sometimes came home before Dab. She thougth something had happen to him. Read the book it is good.

The Great Book Of Brother Rush

I thought that the book"Sweet Whispers Brother Rush" deserved 5 stars because it is a great love novel but at the same time you can't put it down. It is deffinetly one of the best books I ever read and more than a 1 time read.

Sweet--Not, Bitter--Yes

I just finished reading this great book. Why is it great? It would make a wonderful stage play and I'm surprised that no one has done it yet. Hamilton is a master at characterization. The mother and daughter along with their relationship are entirely believable and complicated. Hamilton captured that fine line between love and hate which teens experience with their parents. This book is much better than "Catcher In The Rye!" Buy this book. Read it. You'll be glad you did. And watch out for those fine lookin ghosts hang'n out at da Sevn Levn. See ya dude!

It is a great book for those who love the supernatural.

The book Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush was very likeable. I enjoyed it especially because of the supernatural in it. The ghost in it was described in such detail that it seemed as if you were standing there in the room viewing it. I also enjoyed the book because its main character was a teenage girl with many responsibilities. If you are a teenage girl, you are sure to be able to relate to this book. Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush was also a good book for anyone who is dealing with a death in their family, especially for someone who was really close. I could share the girl's pain in the book because I knew what it was like. The book doesn't bring you down, it just shows how things work out in the end. If you enjoy the supernatural, have experienced a death in your family, or you are a teenage girl with many responsibilities, then I strongly recommend this book.