Island of Bones: Essays (American Lives)
Memoir and argument come together in these essays, and the mix is angry, wry, sad, and always so honest, smashing stereotypes from all sides. The biography is dramatic. Adopted at birth by a Jehovah’s Witness family, abused by her stepfather, the scholarly kid was the only Latina in her West Virginia high school. Growing up in trailer park, barrio, and rural towns, she came to college hungry: literally for food, but also for books. She doesn’t fit, doesn’t know the rules, “and that’s okay.” Now she teaches English and ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska. Writing, she says, is “mysterious. Urgent. Magical. Free.” There is some repetition, but with great quotes from Sandra Cisneros, Virginia Woolf, Frida Kahlo, Toni Morrison, and more, Castro follows in their tradition with her own sharp commentary, and readers will quote her eagerly. “Jumping class comes at a price, and the price is not belonging.” There is no slick relativism here; she addresses feminist issues directly and honors work, political commitment, community, and creativity. --Hazel Rochman