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The House on Childress Street: A Memoir

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In this vivid and piercing memoir of his grandfather, noted novelist Kenji Jasper captures the story of his family and sheds a keen light on the urban and rural experiences of Black America.

Author Kenji Jasper only knew his maternal grandfather, Jesse Langley Sr., as a quiet man who smoked too many cigarettes, drank too much liquor and quoted the Bible like it was the only book he’d ever laid eyes on.

Jesse’s children rarely hugged him, and his nearly sixty years of marriage to Sally seemed cold and complicated. But when the man who declared himself “The Lone Ranger” passed away in late 2002, Kenji began a long and life-changing journey to learn more about the grandfather he barely knew. From the streets of his native Washington, D.C., to rural Virginia, North Carolina, and his home in Brooklyn, Jasper’s journey to find the truth leads him through three generations of stories, through tales of love and loss, loyalty and betrayal, addiction and redemption.

The House on Childress Street examines life, love, and survival through the eyes of one little family on one little block that somehow manages to speak for us all.

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2006

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About the author

Kenji Jasper

17 books9 followers
Kenji Jasper has also written under the pseudonym D.

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38 reviews
October 30, 2010
In this narrative “The House on Childress Street” , by Kenji Jasper, he explores the roots and psyche of an African American family. Jasper shows family, grief, and love, and trust as themes. I like this book because it can connect to my family and many others families on a personal level. It also gave a little history on how African Americans moved up in power from the Great Migration to the southern farms to northern factories by many during the 1930s' through the 1950's. I recommend this book to anyone, this is a very enjoyable and light reading.
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