-Georgia Author of the Year Young Adult Nominee!
J. E. Thompson
THE BOOKS
The saga of Andy Michael Pilgrim is a journey through the sixties in A Brownstone In Brooklyn, the seventies in Philly Style and Philly Profile and the eighties in the national gold medal award winning Ghost of Atlanta.
The reader follows Andy as he matured in the turbulent sixties in Brooklyn with the Civil Rights movement, his working career as a sportswriter in the seventies in Philadelphia watching the influence of drugs and gangs destroy young people’s lives, and in the eighties in Atlanta where he faces demons from his youth and see the effects of reverse migration of African-Americans from the northern cities back to the new south.
Andy’s thirty-year odyssey from Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Atlanta showcase new life-altering situations and problems that faced African-Americans in the last half of the twentieth century.
A Brownstone in Brooklyn
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"A Brownstone in Brooklyn" is about a young driven Black man, his family and his Brooklyn brownstone neighbors and friends. Mr. Thompson has the uncanny ability to write with such intensity that you can`t help but feel that you were actually walking right next to Andy Pilgrim as be experienced,first hand, the love of his family, friends and neighbors and their drive to push him to be all that he can be. Unfortunately, life is not that ideal.
Andy experiences some very trying life lessons..the extreme jealously of an old friend to the point of dire consequences; black and white prejudices again with dire consequences; and last, but certainly not least, the race riots of the late 60`s that affected many inner city communities. He witnesses rioting, shootings,death, looting,burning buildings and severe property damage.
Philly Style and Philly Profile
Philadelphia streets were never silent. Gangs wars on corners, screeching cars on avenues, and squealing steel trolley tires on tracks kept you alert for the next confrontation.
Philadelphia playgrounds were sometimes silent. These were sanctuaries where you confronted your deepest memories. These were places packed with people, but on a summer's midday, they were virtually empty. Streets made habitable again by the actions of a few good men.
Ghost of Atlanta
The Ghost of Atlanta, Andy Michael Pilgrim faces demons from his youth that haunted his life. These are the ghosts in the crawl spaces of his life; some are real and some supernatural. After landing a job with The Atlanta Defender, Andy returns home and visits the place where he finally faces remembrances of his deceased abusive father.
While walking around the grounds, he meets his mysterious cousin, Joe Boy, and finds out that the property is going to be sold by unscrupulous cousins.
While Andy fights this battle, he must confront the personal demon of a possible drug addiction, breaking the color barrier at the south's largest newspaper, The Atlanta Defender, meeting his old girl friend and fighting the lingering effects of segregation in small-town Georgia life. As the story unwinds, all these forces push Andy toward the breaking point, where he almost quits on life. Malevolent mortal deeds are committed and Andy could be next in line.
"The Ghost of Atlanta" is, overall, a superbly written book. 5 stars!~Readers Favorite.
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Great read! June 19, 2013
By abbyp
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Fast-paced, easy and enjoyable read! Highly recommended as a "coming of age" book for the 20-25 crowd. Emotionally stirring! Will definitely be purchasing more books from this author!
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Please click to listen to B.K. Walker's Blog Talk Radio Interview about Ghost of Atlanta
