West of Rehoboth is a story of Black History and Black identity set in the summer of 1962 and featuring Edward Massey - a fourteen-year old African-American boy. An introvert and a reader, Edward is fascinated with Hercule Poirot and the idea of using one's "little grey cells." Edward decides to apply his own little grey cells to solving the mystery of Uncle Rufus while on his annual trip to Rehoboth Beach, where Uncle Rufus lives in a shack on the edge of Aunt Edna's property. Uncle Rufus, a man of drunken and threatening notoriety, intrigues Edward owing to unconfirmed rumors and unanswered questions about the older man. Edward's investigation leads to a bit of magic that explores Uncle Rufus' life and an exposition on some of the different ways an African-American can get screwed by simply being Black. Rather than a litany of woes however, West of Rehoboth is a testament to not only survival, but persistence of Black character in the face of injustices.

Alexs D. Pate's writing is lush and sensual, whether describing the tension of the summer streets of North Philadelphia, the late night air of the beach with its mosquitoes and grit of sand or, the heat generated at his Aunt Edna's juke joint. Dion Graham's narration serves as a wonderful compliment to Pate's writing, smoothly navigating the shifts in point of view and different character voices, as well as the different moods of each scene. Overall, a beautiful production.

Recommendation: Because the main protagonist is fourteen-years old, there may be a tendency to classify this book as Young Adult; but I might caution against a pre-teen or young teen listening to the audiobook without adult mentorship. There are adult themes in the book concerning sex, sexuality, violence (including a murder) and an F-bomb. These elements are handled within the context of the story, which is to say, they are parts of the story and are necessary in the telling of the story; but are not the actual focus of the story. Younger listeners may have questions and a more mature person should probably be on hand with the answers.

Review redacted from my original blog review posted at dogearedcopy on 03/24/2011 ( )

12-year-old Edward and his mother and sister always spend their summers in West Rehoboth, Delaware. Angela has no trouble finding work as a waitress in the neighboring white resort town, and rural Delaware is a safer environment for the children than their North Philadelphia neighborhood. Edward is particularly looking forward to the summer of 1962. He is obsessed with his Uncle Rufus, who lives in an outbuilding behind his Aunt Edna's house, and who the adults refuse to discuss other than to warn the children to avoid him. Edward, an avid mystery reader, senses a mystery, and it's one he's determined to solve.

This is one of those books where the premise is more interesting than the book turns out to be. The writing is uneven and sometimes repetitive. The story has a strong beginning in the description of life in the Massey's North Philadelphia neighborhood and of the trip to Delaware. It gets weaker as Edward narrows his focus to his Uncle Rufus.

I think the author was trying to use Rufus's life as an illustration of one possible path for 12-year-old Edward's life. Life is a series of choices, and a sequence of seemingly insignificant and isolated choices can determine a person's fate. Edward senses that he is at a turning point in his life:

Everybody was constantly trying to calculate his movement into the pit of despair that the neighborhood could be or his ascension to a life of education and success. Toward safety or danger? Which way are you leaning, little black man? His mother. His friends. His father. He was measured every day.

Edward's father drives the family from Philadelphia to Delaware. Edward doesn't understand why he and his sister can never talk his father into stopping along the highway on the 4-hour journey.

But Edward didn't know that his father had grown up in the segregated South. Had never felt welcomed on the highway... Edward's father kept his stopping to a minimum. He knew anything could happen if he wandered into the wrong joint at the wrong time. Entire black families had been broken up or destroyed by such heroic acts as pulling over for a soda pop or a cone of ice cream in the old South. And Delaware, for all practical purposes, was as “Southern” as a city boy could get without going to Mississippi.

I think Edward sensed that Rufus was one of the unlucky ones who “wandered into the wrong joint and the wrong time”, and he needed to know Rufus's story in order to understand himself. ( )

This book was primarily chosen because it could qualify as an entry in a reading challenge (50 States Challenge - this represented Delaware).

The book was very well written and gives insight into the African American experience in Philadelphia and Delaware in the 60's. As they say, "the truth hurts", and although the story does not cover some of the more egregious examples of Jim Crow from the deep south as some other literature does, its insights are disturbing enough - particularly when reading them in the 21st century and knowing that not all of what these characters experienced is completely absent today.

As a story, I found the tale circuitous, and the introduction of a "metaphysical" device a little off-putting. But I did find myself invested in the futures of the characters, and that alone helped me continue reading to completion. ( )