| A Life for a Life Contributor(s): Hill, Ernest (Author) |
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ISBN: 0743281608 ISBN-13: 9780743281607 Publisher: Simon & Schuster OUR PRICE: $16.10 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2005 Annotation: From the acclaimed author of "Satisfied with Nothin'" comes a searing and unsparing story of the unlikely bond between an African-American father and the teenager who killed his son, a tale of violent self-destruction reclaimed by the inexhaustible power of love and forgiveness. In "A Life for a Life," Ernest Hill explores the volatile emotional terrain of a black youth's coming of age in rural Louisiana. When a local drug dealer threatens to kill D'Ray Reid's kid brother unless he comes up with $100 within an hour, D'Ray decides to hold up a convenience store in a nearby town. The young clerk at the cash register attempts to foil the robbery and in the scuffle D'Ray shoots and kills him. What follows is an absorbing drama in which D'Ray becomes a fugitive with a lengthening resume of violent crime. Yet it is ultimately in the person of Henry Earl, the slain boy's father, that D'Ray sees his future. When he is forced to reckon with his destruction of the boy's family, D'Ray finds that Henry Earl is his only advocate and the person who will ask of him what no one, not even his family, had ever asked before. "A Life for a Life" witnesses the resuscitation of two lives by love, forgiveness, and gratitude. The relationship that develops between D'Ray Reid and Henry Earl is nothing short of miraculous: Their discovery of humanity and harmony in the most unlikely place will reverberate in readers' memories.
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| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Literary - Fiction | African American - General |
| Dewey: FIC |
| LCCN: 98017554 |
| Lexile Measure: 580 |
| Physical Information: 0.53" H x 6.15" W x 9.28" (0.77 lbs) 240 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Cultural Region - Gulf Coast - Cultural Region - South - Demographic Orientation - Rural - Geographic Orientation - Louisiana - Cultural Region - Deep South - Cultural Region - Mid-South - Cultural Region - Southeast U.S. |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: From the acclaimed author of Satisfied with Nothin' comes a searing and unsparing story of the unlikely bond between an African-American father and the teenager who killed his son, a tale of violent self-destruction reclaimed by the inexhaustible power of love and forgiveness. In A Life for a Life, Ernest Hill explores the volatile emotional terrain of a black youth's coming of age in rural Louisiana. When a local drug dealer threatens to kill D'Ray Reid's kid brother unless he comes up with $100 within an hour, D'Ray decides to hold up a convenience store in a nearby town. The young clerk at the cash register attempts to foil the robbery and in the scuffle D'Ray shoots and kills him. What follows is an absorbing drama in which D'Ray becomes a fugitive with a lengthening resume of violent crime. Yet it is ultimately in the person of Henry Earl, the slain boy's father, that D'Ray sees his future. When he is forced to reckon with his destruction of the boy's family, D'Ray finds that Henry Earl is his only advocate and the person who will ask of him what no one, not even his family, had ever asked before. A Life for a Life witnesses the resuscitation of two lives by love, forgiveness, and gratitude. The relationship that develops between D'Ray Reid and Henry Earl is nothing short of miraculous: Their discovery of humanity and harmony in the most unlikely place will reverberate in readers' memories. |
Contributor Bio(s): Hill, Ernest: - Ernest Hill was born in Oak Grove, Louisiana. He holds degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, Cornell University, and UCLA. He is the author of five novels, including A Life for a Life, Cry Me a River, It's All About the Moon When the Sun Ain't Shining, and A Person of Interest. |