The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson

The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson

The Air Between Us, by Deborah Johnson is an incredible historical fiction that truly shows the hardship of the integration era. This book is a complex story involving so much more inside of racial segregation. Deborah Johnson is an African American woman who lived eighteen years in Italy and now lives in Columbus, Mississippi. Deborah usually writes children books but this novel really spoke out and touched many. Deborah’s dad was a doctor in this time period, which was part of her inspiration.

In Revere Mississippi the book starts off with ten-year-old Critter Tate driving Billy Ray Puckett, who had ‘accidently’ gotten shot, to the hospital. The perspective changes many times throughout the book showing that this town is nowhere near perfect with many lies and twists. As you read on learning about this investigation you keep finding clues leading you to one person then another.

You then get introduced into Dr. Cooper Connelly and Dr. Reese Jackson, which you later find out that they filled each other’s holes to their learning experience of becoming doctors. Then Melba and Deanie Jackson get involved by being on the wrong side of town; Deanie sees her husband, Reese Jackson, leaving the wrong house. Dr. Connelly was inspired to make Revere’s first integrated school. Which led white’s to accuse him of having an affair with Melba, who is black and tells fortunes for a living. When Mrs. Connelly suddenly comes after to Melba’s to have a reading, Melba then figures out that Mrs. Connelly is actually having an affair with Dr. Connelly. When you couldn’t think of anything more to happen Corner had an autopsy done on Billy Ray Puckett finding out that he was punctured in the lungs and he didn’t remove the bullet leading him to die, slowly bleeding to death. But what not everyone knew was that Dr. Reese Jackson, the black doctor, actually took over Cooper’s surgery on Billy Ray Puckett. Reese wanted Mr. Puckett to die because Billy was actually sexually abusing his own ten-year-old daughter, Janet, and she shot him before he could get to her and Billy knew it.

On a 5 star scale I would give it a 5. It was written in such a way to draw in the readers without being bored at any point. Any readers that love mysterious and finding it out with the people in Revere will love this book. It also shows how the times have changed in such a good way and that the era it was written in struggled greatly the outcome and the war they fought was for the best of the future.

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Reviewed by:  Carly York

Teacher:  Mara Pufko