Item: In the Neighborhood of True
Rating: 4.00
Author: readingwithwrin

by Susan K Carlton and Susan Kaplan Carlton

A powerful story of love, identity, and the price of fitting in or speaking out.

“The story may be set in the past, but it couldn’t be a more timely reminder that true courage comes not from fitting in, but from purposefully standing out . . . and that to find out who you really are, you have to first figure out what you’re not.” —Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things

After her father’s death, Ruth Robb and her family transplant themselves in the summer of 1958 from New York City to Atlanta—the land of debutantes, sweet tea, and the Ku Klux Klan. In her new hometown, Ruth quickly figures out she can be Jewish or she can be popular, but she can’t be both. Eager to fit in with the blond girls in the “pastel posse,” Ruth decides to hide her religion. Before she knows it, she is falling for the handsome and charming Davis and sipping Cokes with him and his friends at the all-white, all-Christian Club.

Does it matter that Ruth’s mother makes her attend services at the local synagogue every week? Not as long as nobody outside her family knows the truth. At temple Ruth meets Max, who is serious and intense about the fight for social justice, and now she is caught between two worlds, two religions, and two boys. But when a violent hate crime brings the different parts of Ruth’s life into sharp conflict, she will have to choose between all she’s come to love about her new life and standing up for what she believes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc copy.

Ruby has recently moved to the south with her mom and little sister after the death of her father. Her mom is originally from the south means that ruby is now expected by her grandparents to become the perfect debutante southern bell to a certain extent. The one big problem with is that she’s Jewish. This is a big no-no for many people in the southern high classes during this time. Which means ruby can either lie and be who her grandmother wants her to be or she can be who she really is and not fit in at her new school.

During her time at school with the rich kids and the time becoming a pre-debutante she meets a boy who she really likes. Davis is the ever so perfect southern gentleman it seems. The only glaringly obvious problem with him from the beginning is his brother Oren who is used to using his charm and daddies money to get what he wants or to get out of trouble.

With Ruby’s big secret weighing her down the more antisemitism happens around her and the more she learns about the true south she will have to make tough decisions that could ruin everything she’s been working so hard to have.

Overall I did really enjoy this book. Ruby is a character that anyone can connect to. She wants to fit in but she also wants to be who she truly is the more time goes on. She’s still grieving the loss of her dad and how her life has changed completely in a very short amount of time. She’s confused and in love and trying to do the right thing. This is such an important book for so many reasons.

The romance part of this book I didn’t really mind for the most part. It did all seem a bit fake though considering they both had secrets and we’re from completely different lives.

I was so proud of Ruby by the end and the decisions she made for herself and her family.

In the Neighborhood of True

by Susan K Carlton and Susan Kaplan Carlton

Reviewed by readingwithwrin on Apr 9, 2019

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