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Jackson Park
Charlotte Carter Book Review

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Plot Summary of Jackson Park
"

Ballantine, August 2003, 32.95, 224 pp.
ISBN 0345447824

Her mother abandoned Cassandra to her grandmother, who did her duty but had no love to give to the young child. When her grandmother died, her great-uncle Woody and his wife Ivy took her in and treated her like the child they wanted but could never have. The Isle's took Cassandra out of the ghetto that was Forest Street and moved her into their upscale apartment hotel in Cook County Hyde Park.

During a family reunion, a man who lives on Forest Street drops by to beg Woody who has a lot of political and criminal connections to help him find his missing granddaughter who was last seen at a local grocery store. When Woody and Ivy go to the store where the granddaughter was last seen, the owner gives them a ring she left behind. That piece of jewelry is tied to a murder case that took place years ago, one in which many people felt the wrong man was convicted. As Woody, Ivy, and Cassandra delve further into the two cases, somebody is out to keep them quiet at any cost.

The protagonists are black, the year is 1965 eight days after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Riots have erupted in Chicago and the national guard is called in to restore order. Charlotte Carter gives her readers a fine sense of place and time through a strong descriptive story that seems common for that era. Told from the perspective of a twenty-year-old college student, the audience learns how blacks felt about their position in society back them. JACKSON PARK is the first installment in what looks to be a great new series.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Jackson Park
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 60%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - solving long-past murder
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - minority/women/homosexual issues
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - student
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - Black
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - small businessman
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - insanity
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 3-4
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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