A Family Tree, Taking Root

By David doc Robertson

Although initially I felt a bit overwhelmed by the length of the book, by the end I felt as if I were losing members of my own family and longed for just one more page.Reviewed by Stacey Seay (see more below)Every generation thinks it knows more than the one before and refuses to heed suggested warnings. Brother and sister, Roman and Virginia, listen to their elders but still face tragic, heartbreaking but other times fulfilling experiences. Come back to the good old days of innocence in Los Angeles from the 1960s through the 90s.Roman didn't think to look behind him. If the little gang was going to do something, it would've been face to face. That was the ghetto code in 1963.Such was life in Watts and Willowbrook, during a time in L.A. when colored became black and folks grew tired of waiting for civil rights, promised over 100 years before. Yet they weren't perfect and sometimes felt disgraced in front of the older generation."I'd better stop callin you boy cause you need to start being a man. But I will tell you to yo face, what you been acting like is a lil' street nigga!" Virginia felt sorry for Roman and lowered her face to her grandmother's shoulder. She knew he hated that word but had to take it that time. Come back and watch a generation fight through troubled times and assume responsibility for its mistakes. They later take the place of the folks ahead of them and then face the frustration of being labeled out of date. "Ms Robason, thangs ain't like when you was in school." The girl turned to her friend. "Dey had the Slauson S' gang when Ms Robason was in school." She and her friend laughed.Relive history like you've never done it before. Rather than peeking through the fence at your neighbor's pool party, you'll be in the yard with your feet in the water and a slab of ribs on your plate, along with a heap of potato salad, some collards, an ear of sweet corn, dripping with butter, and you know there'll be a dish of peach cobbler with your name on it. The story also features the soundtrack of the times and will stir your own memories.I did you wrong, my heart went out to play...Join the Robinsons as they support one another through tumultuous yet glorious times. You are cordially invited into their humble home, where you will feel so comfortable, you won't want to leave.David doc Robertson has much experience as a writer after earning his BA in English from UCLA and an MA in Journalism from the University of Southern California. He has written fiction in addition to news and feature articles for the Los Angeles Times and other regional and national publications. He taught high school and college writing. He credits literary icon, Maya Angelou, for inspiring the diligence put into this work. In a past interview she said that easy reading is damned hard writing.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 198292084X
• ISBN13: 9781982920845
• Release Date: May 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 573 Pages
• Weight: 2.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 1.4" x 7.0"