2 days ago
8
I drove a little over an hour past barns and water towers to Rockford, Illinois: home to Anderson Japanese Gardens, Pig Mind Brewing (best vegan food in the Midwest, according to the internet), and social worker/parent/editor/debut author Rachel León. I have long admired Rachel as my editor at Chicago Review of Books, and know her to be kind, intelligent, generous, and thorough. They have also worked in child welfare for almost two decades. So it came as no surprise to me that their Rockford-set novel about the foster care system, How We See the Gray, is a compassionate and nuanced portrayal of the people impacted by the system, its limitations, and its shortcomings. The story is also about second chances: who gets them, and who is wrongfully denied them.
English (US)