Hope in the Invisible (The Complete Title "Hope in the Invisible: An American Journey from the Inner City to the Ivy League") is the first book by author and journalist Ron Suskind, published in 1998. This book is a biographical novel about the life of Cedric Jennings during his final years in high school and in his early years in college. It details his life at Ballou High School, Washington city school, D.C., and to Brown University, which Cedric followed after high school. This book illustrates the problems of the downtown education system and how students of this system are affected throughout their lives. In 2008, the book was selected as part of the "One Maryland, One Book" program.
Video A Hope in the Unseen
Plot
Cedric Jennings is an anomaly at Ballou High School in Southeastern Washington Washington, D.C.: In a poorly performing school where academic achievement is ridiculed, Cedric proudly strives for high marks with the desire to attend a renowned university. The sub-par standards at Ballou put him at a distinct disadvantage academically, while often the mockery and physical threats of other students have alienated him socially. Cedric lives with his mother, Barbara Jennings, who works for the Department of Agriculture; his father Cedric Gilliam is a drug dealer currently in prison. In his first year, Cedric entered the Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES) summer program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He believes this is the beginning of a new life for him, but when summer comes he finds the class much more difficult than fellow MITES students who attend better schools and are more adept in math and science. Although he was friends at MIT, he also noticed that the ghetto background made it different from them. At the end of the program, Cedric was told by Leon Trilling's faculty director that he would not be admitted to MIT as a student.
Maps A Hope in the Unseen
Synopsis
At Ballou Senior High, a school surrounded by violence in Washington, D.C., honors students have learned to keep their heads down. Like most kids downtown, they know that any special attention in this dangerous place can make you a target of violence. But Cedric Jennings would not swallow his pride, and with his unwavering support from his mother, he studied and fought as if his life depended on him - and rightly so. The summer after the first year, at a program for minorities at MIT, he got a glimpse of life outside, at first glance that turned into a direct challenge a year later: admissions to Brown University, an Ivy League school. At Brown, finding himself far behind most of the other new students, Cedric had to manage a bewildering array of intellectual and social challenges. Cedric hopes that on campus he will eventually find a place to adjust, but he finds that he has little in common with white students, many of whom come from special backgrounds, or middle-class blacks. Having traveled too far to return, Cedric had to rely on his faith, his intelligence, and his determination to live his hopes in the unseen - the future of his acceptance and appreciation, every day, to imagine.
Critical Responses and Reactions
This book is filled with tremendous critical and commercial success. It was chosen by the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Monthly and Booklist as one of the best books of the year. The New York Times Book Review calls it "A remarkable book, formula-destroying". David Halberstam calls it "The beautiful book of American heroic struggle." This book has become a regular choice in courses on American culture, education, sociology and creative writing, and has become a must read for new students at various universities. In 2008, the book was selected as part of the "One Maryland, One Book" program.
This book is especially notable for its influence on the debate about affirmative action. After its release in 1998, affirmative action has become one of the leading domestic social issues facing the country. In their review of the book, CNN states, "As more and more voters, politicians and talk-show hosts eliminate affirmative action as well-meaning anachronisms," Hope in the Invisible "should be required reading for prospective immigrants." for Newsday, Bill Reel stated, "I changed my thinking about affirmative action, I am against it, now I do it." The agent of change is an open-minded book - "Hope in the Unseen" by Ron Suskind.
The book also provides high praise for innovation for style writing - using full reporting to place the reader inside the character's head. The Chicago Tribune refers to the book, "new, new nonfiction."
On March 25, 2009, "All Things to Consider" runs the segment of A Hope in the Unseen on NPR. During the segment, Susan Jane Gilman, author of "Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven", describes her affinity for Suskind's work. "Suskind's literary talent is double, he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who lives with Jennings from close range for several years, but he is also a major storyteller with the lyrics of a poet."
References
External links
- Expectations in the Unseen on Ron Suskind's web site
- Fight All Opportunities: In Rough City Schools, Student Struggle, For Studying - and Escape, Ron Suskind, Wall Street Journal, May 26, 1994. One of the original stories on which this book is based.
- Class Struggle: Poor, Black, and Smart, Teenagers Trying to Survive M.I.T, Ron Suskind, Wall Street Journal, September 22, 1995. One of the original stories on which this book is based.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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