And I Heard a Bird Sing

Eighteen-year-old Imamu's newly-found contentment, with his job and the apartment he shares with his frail mother, is shattered when he is inadvertently drawn into the sinister events taking place in a wealthy household where he has been delivering groceries.Eighteen-year-old Imamu's newly-found contentment with his job and the apartment he shares with his frail mother is shattered when he is inadvertently drawn into the sinister events taking place in a wealthy household where he delivers groceries

Grade 7-10 Neither the tight construction of The Disappearance (1979) nor the complex characterizations of New Guys on the Block (1983, both Delacorte) can be found in Guy's latest Imamu Jones mystery, which pales in comparison to the earlier novels. Jones is now living with his recovered alcoholic mother in a Brooklyn apartment near his foster family, the Aimsleys. He is suspected of murder at an estate to which he makes deliveries, but with the support of Detective Brown, who appeared in the previous books, Imamu is able to find and confront the actual murderer. The plot is too grounded in coincidence to work as a mystery, and the beauty of language that is usually Guy's strength is lacking here (``Mrs. Jones's manchild had taken a giant damn step''; ``Imamu took the toothpick from his mouth, to see the man better''). Guy spends a lot of time telling about the action of the previous books, which slows down this narrative considerably. At several points, Jones likens Detective Brown to ``a detective out of a movie mystery,'' and that is too true of much of this book. With this novel, a good mystery series dissolves into melodrama. David Gale, ``School Library Journal''
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Guy's notable novels include The Disappearance and New Guys Around the Block, which both focus on an engaging black teenager, Imamu Jones. Reunited with his widowed mother in this book, Imamu helps her overcome alcoholism and begins to earn a living at a job he likes. Delivering gourmet foods to white customers in an exclusive Brooklyn enclave, Imamu often lingers to visit crippled young Margaret Maldoon at her request. The girl is lonely; the boy feels her need for companionship so he stays. Besides, he is strongly attracted to the place as well as to Margaret's seductive Aunt Charlotte. Then the girl's racist Uncle James complains and Imamu no longer is given deliveries for the Maldoons. But he's there later, when Margaret is found murdered and is forced to use detective skills acquired in the previous stories to clear himself of suspicion and get the killer. Guy again proves her skill at creating stirring stories about real peoplehere not only Imamu but his mother, concerned foster family and everyone involved. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.