Likely Stories - Last Summer on State Street by Toya Wolfe

It's not a memoir but it is rooted in her experiences growing up in the Robert Taylor homes on the Southside of Chicago. We experience the story from the viewpoint of Felicia Stevens as she looks back on the last summer she lived in the Robert Taylor homes.

It is 1999 and 'FeFe' as she was called then is about to turn thirteen. Her building is one of the last standing, the complex is being systematically torn down t make way for new development. The atmosphere is definitely before; before the turn of the millennium, before nine eleven, before the financial crisis, before Covid. Before.

But it is not nostalgic. It may be set before so many things that upended the world, but for FeFe and her friends the world wasn't kind in the first place and a secure future never seemed guaranteed.

FeFe lives with her mother and her brother who try to shelter her from the reality of life in the projects. She's got a teacher who believes in her and challenges her to pursue her dreams. She's got a tight group of friends who like double Dutch, I could practically hear the rhythmic strike of the rope and the sing-song chanting of Felicia, Precious, and Stacia. And she invites a fourth, Tonya, to join. There lives circle and intertwine and the mess grown ups make of the world inevitably intrudes.

It's an incredibly powerful novel about family, friendship, and growing up. It's not exactly an uplifting read, I had to briefly put the book down from time to time to grieve the characters experiences, but it is, ultimately, hopeful.

Reading FeFe's story helps me understand that I can't possibly know what it's like to have lived her life, even while I can empathize with her hurt, confusion, and love.

In some ways the book reminded me of another that I both loved and had to put down frequently, 'The Coldest Winter Ever' by Sister Souljah, published in 1999 as it happens. But I think it ultimately has more in common with "The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas. If you loved either of those put this one at the top of your list.

Last Summer on State Street by Tony Wolfe.

And in honor of Jim McKeown, let me say...five stars.

RECENT EPISODES OF LIKELY STORIES

Likely Stories - The Librarian of Burned Books

I love books about books. Really, who wouldn't want to be a librarian holding the multiverse together, as in The Invisible Library series? And so many give great us reading lists as a bonus.

Likely Stories - Demon Copperhead

Hello. My name is Douglas Henry, Dean of the Honors College at Baylor University.Last year, Barbara Kingsolver won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel, Demon Copperhead. Inspired by Charles Dickens' David Copperfield, Kingsolver lays bare the woeful lives of orphans in drug-addicted America.

Likely Stories - Never Let Me Go

During the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine, some people learned to make sourdough, and some learned to paint. Me? I read books. I'm Emma Weidmann, the Arts and Life Editor at the Baylor Lariat, with this week's edition of Likely Stories on KWBU.

Likely Stories - The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the nineteen thirty-six Berlin Olympics.

Harrison Otis says of The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the nineteen thirty-six Berlin Olympics, "...this is more than a sports story. It’s a window into American life during the Great Depression. It’s a story about Hitler’s rise to power. It’s a story of the men and women from Washington whose friendships and conflicts are the real heart of the book...".

Likely Stories - Normal People

Why hello there, I’m Malcolm Foster, Operations Assistant at KWBU, habitual collector of books and lifelong lover of compelling storytelling. Today I want to talk about a body of work that captured both my head and my heart. A book that I still find myself thinking of years after my first read through.

Likely Stories - Starter Villain

Hi, and welcome to Likely Stories. I’m Paige Connell, and I teach 9th grade English at Midway High School. Today I want to talk about one of my surprise favorite books of 2023, Starter Villain by John Scalzi.

Likley Stories - The Last Days of Letterman: The Final 6 Weeks

It took me a lot longer to read The Last Days of Letterman: The Final 6 Weeks, than it should have. It’s not a very long book, just over 300 pages, with more than 100 photographs. But I found myself turning again and again to YouTube to watch a clip of something that was mentioned in the text.

Likely Stories - The Displacements

Of all the books I have read recently, the one I have recommended to the most people is “The Displacements” by Bruce Holsinger.

Likely Stories - Devotions

My name is Heather White. When I am not managing my household and caring for my young children, I teach art and art history classes here in Waco. Today I am recommending the book “Devotions” by Mary Oliver

Likely Stories - Klara and the Sun

Hi, and welcome to Likely Stories. My name is Harrison Otis, and I'm a graduate student in the English department at Baylor University. Today I'm reviewing Klara and the sun, the 2021 novel by the British author Kazuo Ishiguro.