Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?: From the Projects to Prep School: A Memoir

By Charlise Lyles

Book Overview

A memoir of race and education, this is the story of a girl who grew up and out of the Cleveland projects in the 1960s and '70s.

While growing up in Cleveland, young Charlise Lyles experienced turbulent events including race riots and a neighborhood murder. Yet she was inspired to appreciate literature at a young age, and she spent her days reading--and also often searching for the estranged father who taught her that love of learning.

Despite starting in the "slow class" at an aging school on Cleveland's east side, Lyles had a thirst for knowledge and drive for success that would open a door to new opportunities. Granted a scholarship to a prestigious prep school in a wealthy suburb, the vibrant teenager finds herself presented with a bewildering set of new challenges--and a new direction in life.

"Lyles paints a detailed, thoughtful picture of race relations in the 1970s ... Highly recommended." -- Small Press Review

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 159851041X
• ISBN13: 9781598510416
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Gray & Company Publishers
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A must read,,,

Bring a black Cinderella has its stumbling blocks. Charlisle Llysle tell the story of being plucked from a midwestern housing project and given a place in a prep school. It is a tale of adjustments, frustraton, insight and growth. Anyone of any color who's been in a minority position would gain from reading this book. The style is smooth and her story carries you along. You won't put it down! Fortunately, it's a managable length, although I'd have read a longer book if she's chosen to write it.

children of the storm

Ordered this classic to assist in some research. This is the original book.. in good condition. thank you

A solid piece on those who faced challenges during the civil rights era

Blacks and whites sharing the same schools are a foregone conclusion in the modern day, but as recent as forty years ago, major challenges were faced. "Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?: From the Projects to Prep School" is her story of arriving in an extreme majority white prep school during such a time it was completely unheard of. Facing a new set of challenges while maintaining a desire to learn, Lyles' story is a moving one indeed. "Do I Dare Disturb the Universe?" is a solid piece on those who faced challenges during the civil rights era.

Never underestimate the power of a father's influence on his daughter . . .

A little girl whose father casually names all the stars in the various constellations can hardly help but reach for those stars, even if he's no longer a presence in her life. It's those early years that truly matter in the very special relationship of a father and his daughter. I know this for a fact, as my father and I shared a similar background. Ms. Lyles was named for her elusive father, and used his teachings as a springboard to a more challenging educational experience. Even though his presence wasn't a constant in her life, his love for words and books opened her young eyes to the world, and she never looked back. Her story proves that intelligence and education go hand-in-hand in creating an anachronism, such as she was while a teen-ager. Her early promise, however, was fulfilled many times over as she continued to achieve beyond what the rest of the world might have thought possible for this sassy, skinny Black kid from the projects of inner-city Cleveland. Her love for books and words prompted her teachers to goad her into continually improving herself, until at age 14, she found herself in totally new territory. A three-year scholarship to a private school (where all the rich, white kids went) meant she left her own home to live with a teacher, but still meant a bus-ride to the rural campus. Having learned at an early age that race was *Important*, she also learned that some things are only important if you let them be. Conspiracies could be found anywhere, if you looked hard enough to find them. Fortunately for the rest of us, Ms. Lyles decided to look beyond them and find the truth of a larger world. Granted, she had a lot of encouragement and support from folks she didn't know and had never met, but she also used her own store of gumption to push or pull herself to a higher plane. This wonderfully readable book is not only a non-pretentious biography of a graceful writer/poet but also a demonstration that gems are to be found in the most unlikely of places. It's also a great slice-of-life look at a world not very familiar to those of us who happen to be white, and from a different economic structure. If you remember--or even if you don't--the river that burnt or the Hough riots, your memory will be challenged by her view of these events. Follow along as she experiences the beginnings of the Black Power movement while still a pre-teen, graduates from Hawken and Smith College and takes her place in a world of letters, as poet, writer and editor. Do I Dare Disturb the Universe? is an inspirational story that should be read by anyone who can read, regardless of age or color or social position. For those who cannot themselves read it, a spoken version should be created so that no one is left out.