One of the Good Ones
One of the Good Ones is part drama, part mystery, with a splash of humor, and tons of history. Kezi was recently killed while attending a protest and her family is left reeling. Kezi had planned a road trip through rural America using The Green Book as a guide, so Happi, her other sister Genny, and their friends decide to take the trip in Kezi’s honor to learn more about the history of Black Americans, and their own family. This book constantly switches through different character’s points of view. At first, some of the characters/chapters appear to be random, but as the story unfolds they begin to make more sense, and add to both the mystery and overall themes of the book.
I didn’t realize, until about 1/3 of the way through the book, that the details of Kezi’s death had not been shared, and what I assumed happened to her, was not actually the case. All the chapters from Kezi’s point of view from the day of her arrest and killing, really helped to add a mysterious element to this story and I kept wanting to flip ahead in the book to find out what happened to her. As for Happi and Genny and their road trip, I found myself scouring the internet every time they made a stop to try and learn more. In an age where most information is at our finger tips, I found it surprising how little information there was out there on The Green Book and the businesses mentioned in it. There was also a lot of other historical information mentioned that I had no idea about and I found myself wondering why more people don’t know about these things.
My only small complaint, is that there is a lot going on in this book… social justice, police brutality, sexuality, the role of the church, understanding history, the dangers of being on the internet, I could go on and on. Focusing in on just a few of these issues, instead of trying to tackle all of them, might help tighten up the story a bit. For example, we never get a POV chapter from Genny, the other sister, and I would have liked to know a bit more about her, her dynamics within the family, and how she is processing all the things that she learns.
Overall, One of the Good Ones is one of those books that really forces you to ask yourself the important questions… What does your life mean now, and what will it mean when you are gone? How will you be remembered, and does anyone deserve to be remembered as “good” vs. “bad”? Having to look internally to try and answer these big questions was both challenging, and emotional. I truly feel that this is the type of book that everyone can learn something from… something about our history as a country, or something about ourselves as people.
