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Meet Me Halfway: Milwaukee Stories
When Johnquell, an African American teen, suffers a serious accident in the home of his white neighbor, Mrs. Czernicki, his community must find ways to bridge divisions between black and white, gay and straight, old and young. Set in one of the nation’s most highly segregated cities—Milwaukee, Wisconsin— Meet Me Halfway tells stories of connections in a community with a tumultuous and divided past. In nine stories told from diverse perspectives, Jennifer Morales captures a Rust Belt city’s struggle to establish a common ground and a collective vision of the future.
Morales gives life to multifaceted characters—white schoolteachers and senior citizens, Latino landlords, black and Puerto Rican teens, political activists, and Vietnam vets. As their lives unfold in these stories, we learn about Johnquell’s family—his grandparents’ involvement in the local Black Panther Party, his sister’s on-again, off-again friendship with a white classmate, and his aunt’s identity crisis as she finds herself falling in love with a woman. We also meet Johnquell’s mother, Gloria, and his school friend Taquan, who is struggling to chart his own future.
As an activist mother in the thick of Milwaukee politics, Morales developed a keen ear and a tender heart for the kids who have inherited the city’s troubled racial legacy. With a critical eye on promises unfulfilled, Meet Me Halfway raises questions about the notion of a “postracial” society and, with humor and compassion, lifts up the day-to-day work needed to get there.
Runner-up, Short Story/Anthology, Midwest Book Awards
Best books for public & secondary school libraries from university presses, American Library Association
Wisconsin representative for “Great Lakes Reads,” Library of Congress Center for the Book and its affiliated Midwest centers
Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association (one of ten 2015 books chosen)
Morales gives life to multifaceted characters—white schoolteachers and senior citizens, Latino landlords, black and Puerto Rican teens, political activists, and Vietnam vets. As their lives unfold in these stories, we learn about Johnquell’s family—his grandparents’ involvement in the local Black Panther Party, his sister’s on-again, off-again friendship with a white classmate, and his aunt’s identity crisis as she finds herself falling in love with a woman. We also meet Johnquell’s mother, Gloria, and his school friend Taquan, who is struggling to chart his own future.
As an activist mother in the thick of Milwaukee politics, Morales developed a keen ear and a tender heart for the kids who have inherited the city’s troubled racial legacy. With a critical eye on promises unfulfilled, Meet Me Halfway raises questions about the notion of a “postracial” society and, with humor and compassion, lifts up the day-to-day work needed to get there.
Runner-up, Short Story/Anthology, Midwest Book Awards
Best books for public & secondary school libraries from university presses, American Library Association
Wisconsin representative for “Great Lakes Reads,” Library of Congress Center for the Book and its affiliated Midwest centers
Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association (one of ten 2015 books chosen)
202 pages, Paperback
First published April 21, 2015
11 people are currently reading
615 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 19, 2017
I like how Morales captures the different cultures and lifestyles of the characters in this book. The message that I felt from her book, was that it's not so much our experiences in life that can connect us and bring meaning to one's life, but in the feelings we have and share with others....the feelings from the human heart.
July 12, 2015
This book hooked me within the first few pages. Morales captures Milwaukee and its neighborhoods perfectly. The inherent tension created by segregation in Milwaukee is palpable both in the book, and in reality. I loved the way she weaves in and out of the characters' lives crossing age, race, gender, sexuality, and time periods. I currently live (and in the past have lived) in neighborhoods included in the book, and wish more people would read this book to better understand the people of Milwaukee.
March 3, 2016
Beautifully written series of intersecting stories about Milwaukee residents and their experiences of reaching across differences, or failing to do so. The stories reach back historically to racial tensions in the Vietnam War and a growing awareness of sexism in the local Black Panther Party ranks. They also allow us to see our own fears and courage in reaching out to neighbors and strangers, and the possibility that each of us can grow and change.
November 30, 2016
Meet Me Halfway is a command. In these Milwaukee stories, Jennifer Morales meets us halfway with her characters, demanding we, too, meet her halfway by laying on the table our own assumptions and fears. What we receive for our efforts is a hopeful glimpse into a community interwoven by grief. (Think Crash the movie, but optimistic instead of sadistic.) “Netania pulled on Bee-Bee's hand, bending toward her. 'Meet me halfway, will you?'” Netania, a lesbian, is leaning in for a kiss she's not sure will be well received by this non-lesbain friend. We never know if she gets the kiss or not. That's how this book is: each story ends without a clear conclusion, leaving us to finish out the story with our own. It's as though we're written in, unable to remain innocent bystanders.
At the center of all the stories is Johnquell. He gets the first line. “Johnquell's neck is broken and chances are he won't walk again.” Revolving around him are the neighbor he was helping when he got injured and her grumpy friend. There's his mom, sister and aunt Bee-Bee. There's a substitute teacher Johnquell dislikes and a long time teacher/mentor he adores. Lastly is his best friend who is motivated by Johnquell to set his sights on a goal and follow through with a determination he lacked when Johnquell was alive. What I liked about each of these characters is their willingness to change. They proactively face their fears and overcome them with help. I particularly enjoyed an encounter between Johnquell's mother and a woman with a similar name and address. They meet when Johnquell's mom receives this woman's mail and returns it to her home. They end up chatting and crying together, strangers, but companions in sorrow. At first, I was skeptical of the serendipity of the meeting, but realized the gravity of the situation, Johnquell's mom's world being turned upside down, made the impossible possible. It opened up narrative possibilities Morales handled with aplomb.
Morales also deftly handled many different voices. Most daring is the last voice, Taquan's. She adopts his slang and syntax. “He [the counselor at the community college to which he applies] be using words I ain't never heard and I be trying to not let on that most the time I ain't got a clue what he saying.” Perhaps it isn't exactly as a real Taquan would say it, but Morales has obviously spent a lot of time and attention on her characters and the real people who inform them.
This book couldn't have come out at a better time. Morales said it's often hard to publish books dealing with race, but “hard” is precisely our current political climate. Meet Me Halfway is a command and an invitation, a promise that there is a reward for compromise. And when one party, the author steps up to the plate with an “argument” in the form of well-developed characters and true-to-life plot and style, it is worth it to listen. Now it's our turn to add to the stories, from our own towns and our own hearts.
At the center of all the stories is Johnquell. He gets the first line. “Johnquell's neck is broken and chances are he won't walk again.” Revolving around him are the neighbor he was helping when he got injured and her grumpy friend. There's his mom, sister and aunt Bee-Bee. There's a substitute teacher Johnquell dislikes and a long time teacher/mentor he adores. Lastly is his best friend who is motivated by Johnquell to set his sights on a goal and follow through with a determination he lacked when Johnquell was alive. What I liked about each of these characters is their willingness to change. They proactively face their fears and overcome them with help. I particularly enjoyed an encounter between Johnquell's mother and a woman with a similar name and address. They meet when Johnquell's mom receives this woman's mail and returns it to her home. They end up chatting and crying together, strangers, but companions in sorrow. At first, I was skeptical of the serendipity of the meeting, but realized the gravity of the situation, Johnquell's mom's world being turned upside down, made the impossible possible. It opened up narrative possibilities Morales handled with aplomb.
Morales also deftly handled many different voices. Most daring is the last voice, Taquan's. She adopts his slang and syntax. “He [the counselor at the community college to which he applies] be using words I ain't never heard and I be trying to not let on that most the time I ain't got a clue what he saying.” Perhaps it isn't exactly as a real Taquan would say it, but Morales has obviously spent a lot of time and attention on her characters and the real people who inform them.
This book couldn't have come out at a better time. Morales said it's often hard to publish books dealing with race, but “hard” is precisely our current political climate. Meet Me Halfway is a command and an invitation, a promise that there is a reward for compromise. And when one party, the author steps up to the plate with an “argument” in the form of well-developed characters and true-to-life plot and style, it is worth it to listen. Now it's our turn to add to the stories, from our own towns and our own hearts.
March 2, 2016
Jennifer Morales is a former Milwaukee-based activist focused on education, and once acted as a board member for Milwaukee public schools. Now she can add published author to her list of accomplishments with the release of her interconnected collection of short stories in Meet Me Halfway-Milwaukee Stories.
Meet Me Halfway opens up with “Heavy Lifting.” In this story, Johnquell, an African-American teenage boy, is mortally wounded when helps his white neighbor, Mrs. Czernicki move a heavy piece of furniture in home. Feeling fully, responsible, Mrs. Czernicki feels compelled to connect further with Johnquell’s family that goes beyond attending his funeral. She becomes friendly towards Johnquell’s grieving mother and learns more about Johnquell from his siblings, learning though there are differences that divide us, there are also shared experiences that explain our shared humanity.
Thus, Meet Me Halfway, uses “Heavy Lifting” as a launching pad to share intermingling stories about various Milwaukee residents in one of America’s most segregated cities-Milwaukee.
In “Fragging,” a still alive Johnquell describes his experiences as a black student from a lower middle class family in a mostly white, wealthy suburban high school.
In “Revision” Stu Reid’s limited ideas on young black men change when he feels compelled to attend Johnquell’s funeral after dealing with him in class as a substitute teacher. Perhaps Milwaukee’s answer to Rush Limbaugh, Clark “Psycho” Sykora, doesn’t have all the answers after all.
When flowers are “Misdirected” and accidentally sent to Johnquell’s mother Gloria that are meant for another woman, Gloria learns a long-kept secret of Donna Tillet, a white suburban matron, a secret that kept Donna estranged from her children for far too long.
And in the final chapter, “Pressing On,” Tarquan, Johnquell’s surviving brother navigate the difficult aftermath of his brother’s death, putting up with the questions from concerned adults, his siblings, and high school friends and peers. If adults can’t explain life and death, how can Tarquan? Perhaps, some day he’ll have the answers.
Morales’s empathetic and vivid writing is both thought-provoking and inspiring. In a city like Milwaukee, so segregated among all races, Morales is able to fully evoke the multi-dimensional characters with wisdom and grace. She doesn’t just feel for these men, women and children; Morales’ feels with them as truly masterful writers should and do. Meet Me Halfway: Milwaukee Stories is a slim book that spoke to me in volumes. And I hope it is not the only book Jennifer Morales has within her. I want more books from such a talented writer.
Originally published at The Book Self:
https://thebookselfblog.wordpress.com...
Meet Me Halfway opens up with “Heavy Lifting.” In this story, Johnquell, an African-American teenage boy, is mortally wounded when helps his white neighbor, Mrs. Czernicki move a heavy piece of furniture in home. Feeling fully, responsible, Mrs. Czernicki feels compelled to connect further with Johnquell’s family that goes beyond attending his funeral. She becomes friendly towards Johnquell’s grieving mother and learns more about Johnquell from his siblings, learning though there are differences that divide us, there are also shared experiences that explain our shared humanity.
Thus, Meet Me Halfway, uses “Heavy Lifting” as a launching pad to share intermingling stories about various Milwaukee residents in one of America’s most segregated cities-Milwaukee.
In “Fragging,” a still alive Johnquell describes his experiences as a black student from a lower middle class family in a mostly white, wealthy suburban high school.
In “Revision” Stu Reid’s limited ideas on young black men change when he feels compelled to attend Johnquell’s funeral after dealing with him in class as a substitute teacher. Perhaps Milwaukee’s answer to Rush Limbaugh, Clark “Psycho” Sykora, doesn’t have all the answers after all.
When flowers are “Misdirected” and accidentally sent to Johnquell’s mother Gloria that are meant for another woman, Gloria learns a long-kept secret of Donna Tillet, a white suburban matron, a secret that kept Donna estranged from her children for far too long.
And in the final chapter, “Pressing On,” Tarquan, Johnquell’s surviving brother navigate the difficult aftermath of his brother’s death, putting up with the questions from concerned adults, his siblings, and high school friends and peers. If adults can’t explain life and death, how can Tarquan? Perhaps, some day he’ll have the answers.
Morales’s empathetic and vivid writing is both thought-provoking and inspiring. In a city like Milwaukee, so segregated among all races, Morales is able to fully evoke the multi-dimensional characters with wisdom and grace. She doesn’t just feel for these men, women and children; Morales’ feels with them as truly masterful writers should and do. Meet Me Halfway: Milwaukee Stories is a slim book that spoke to me in volumes. And I hope it is not the only book Jennifer Morales has within her. I want more books from such a talented writer.
Originally published at The Book Self:
https://thebookselfblog.wordpress.com...
June 7, 2020
From the book jacket: An urban neighborhood must find ways to bridge divisions between black and white, gay and straight, old and young. … In nine stories Morales captures a Rust Belt city’s struggle to establish a common ground and a collective vision of the future.
My reactions:
I love short stories and was expecting that format. But this is really a novel told from nine different viewpoints. It begins when a black teenager, Johnquell, goes to help the elderly Polish widow who lives next door move a bookcase. He is a high school senior facing a bright future, having gotten into a good university. But a tragic accident ends that dream. The subsequent stories reveal more about Johnquell, his family and friends, as well as about Mrs Czernicki and her friends and relations.
It’s an engaging and interesting look at an urban struggle that is all too familiar. Morales explores how one’s opinions might be changed (or at least softened) by more contact, by listening and being open to other people’s stories and viewpoints. She also shows how difficult it is to move from that entrenched position, and how rewarding it is to “meet in the middle.”
This was to have been my F2F book club’s April selection, but that’s been put off to October now. The author is going to join us and I’m very much looking forward to that discussion.
My reactions:
I love short stories and was expecting that format. But this is really a novel told from nine different viewpoints. It begins when a black teenager, Johnquell, goes to help the elderly Polish widow who lives next door move a bookcase. He is a high school senior facing a bright future, having gotten into a good university. But a tragic accident ends that dream. The subsequent stories reveal more about Johnquell, his family and friends, as well as about Mrs Czernicki and her friends and relations.
It’s an engaging and interesting look at an urban struggle that is all too familiar. Morales explores how one’s opinions might be changed (or at least softened) by more contact, by listening and being open to other people’s stories and viewpoints. She also shows how difficult it is to move from that entrenched position, and how rewarding it is to “meet in the middle.”
This was to have been my F2F book club’s April selection, but that’s been put off to October now. The author is going to join us and I’m very much looking forward to that discussion.
September 30, 2017
This is a book of stories that revolve the lives of people in Milwaukee who are connected in some way to a tragic accident. The stories deal with race, poverty, aging, politics and how all of those things have a broad reach into our everyday lives. It is a good read for today's struggles. We are reading this book for a book club at the library I work at and I am looking forward to the discussion.
June 8, 2021
I confess. I'm not completely impartial here. This is a story about Milwaukee and while I don't live there, it's a great city that I love. Morales is a gifted writer and as a former alderwoman, she is well versed in the many issues Milwaukee and its inhabitants confront daily is. She used those insights to help craft this book. While each chapter could stand on its own, she weaves them together linking a parent's worst nightmare (if you're a parent, you'll know what that is) and its after effect to some of the people involved. The connections are varied but they're all believable. Each chapter touches on one or more of the many perspectives, issues and challenges people encounter daily. While the book is Milwaukee specific with places and events residents will recognize, it's universal to any community in the U.S. today. Well worth a read.
July 13, 2015
I won this book in a Goodreads give away, and I was very impressed. It's a powerful, sad story, and well written. Although it claims to be a collection of stories, it's really one big story, over multiple generations, told effectively in the voices of multiple characters: the teenaged boy, his mother, his aunt, his grandfather, his teacher, his sister, a neighbor. This is always trickier than writers think it will be. I don't normally like first person narrators, but Morales manages to do it quite well. It helps that she uses third person sometimes. I don't know whether she did so for variety or thought those characters lent themselves better to third person, or she had trouble finding their voices, I appreciated that she didn't force it.
Morales combines tragedy, history, comedy, and romance in the book, with the underlying message that, with some serious efforts to communicate with and understand each other, we can bridge gaps and make progress toward solving the problems that plague a modern American city. If the book had one flaw, I think it was that Morales got personal in one of the stories and tried putting herself into one of the characters, thus throwing the plot off balance. I would have preferred that she focus consistently Johnquell'sl family's story and leave any autobiographical fantasies for another book.
Morales combines tragedy, history, comedy, and romance in the book, with the underlying message that, with some serious efforts to communicate with and understand each other, we can bridge gaps and make progress toward solving the problems that plague a modern American city. If the book had one flaw, I think it was that Morales got personal in one of the stories and tried putting herself into one of the characters, thus throwing the plot off balance. I would have preferred that she focus consistently Johnquell'sl family's story and leave any autobiographical fantasies for another book.
September 11, 2016
3.5 stars for a very moving piece about all walks of life joined by the smallest of connections. It would have been more, but there wasn't a common purpose for writing this book. What was meant to be a captivating tale of a society undergoing prejudice, turned into a lot of randomness that never really added up and stood almost-finished on their own.
December 18, 2015
An intriguing look at the interconnectedness of people, this book winds together stories about individuals who are all affected in some way by one boy's tragic fate. It explores the multifaceted issues that make us human and the ways that we relate to those around us. Issues of race, age, and sexual identity are all explored in this brief collection. The stories are beautifully and respectfully told to give us a glimpse into the life and views of individuals in all different walks of life. The best way to gain perspective is to look at the world from a different angle, and this book does that beautifully. The community must shift their focus, put their differences aside, and find a way to help each other heal from this tragedy and move forward to a brighter future. When we care enough to reach out to those around us, beautiful things happen.
Bettina P. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.
December 2, 2015
An intriguing look at the interconnectedness of people, this book winds together stories about individuals who are all affected in some way by one boy's tragic fate. It explores the multifaceted issues that make us human and the ways that we relate to those around us. Issues of race, age, and sexual identity are all explored in this brief collection. The stories are beautifully and respectfully told to give us a glimpse into the life and views of individuals in all different walks of life. The best way to gain perspective is to look at the world from a different angle, and this book does that beautifully. The community must shift their focus, put their differences aside, and find a way to help each other heal from this tragedy and move forward to a brighter future. When we care enough to reach out to those around us, beautiful things happen.
March 18, 2021
I really enjoyed Morales' characters. It was wonderful to puzzle out how each short story related to the last one, and it was amazing to have a chance to discuss the book in class with her.
May 30, 2015
This book is a quick read, but so dense in character development and emotion that you immediately feel sympathy and understanding towards the community it describes. I just moved to Milwaukee, but found this violin Cleveland, where it was being featured in my local bookshop and picked it up on a whim. With strong undertones (but not directly), this book addresses the complexities of race, gender, sexuality, family and friendship. The snapshots of people's lives are so endearing and touching, it quickly became one of my favorite and most touching reads.
May 3, 2015
This has immediately jumped to my favorite book of the year. Such a quiet, shy little book filled with the sorrows and joys that make lives. Thank you Jennifer for gifting us with a book that teaches but doesn't preach, that grieves but doesn't despair, and that encourages us to see through other eyes in order to get from where we are, to where we need to be.
May 17, 2016
I appreciated how each of the nine stories in this collection can stand alone, but enrich each other because of the way the characters are all connected. They may be "Milwaukee Stories" but they are stories that give us insight into the racial tensions that likely exist in any urban, American city.
April 5, 2017
This book brought back memories of my college years - things I haven't thought about in decades, including a Black Panthers meeting. I had a hard time putting it down. I liked the interweaving of the characters in the stories.
August 7, 2021
I liked the format of this book diving into one character for each vignette, shifting voices convincingly. Morales was able to find the good in each of the characters and portray how these people from diverse backgrounds were able to break barriers to friendship.
August 22, 2015
Even though these are short stories, the characters become deeply familiar. We care about them, learn from them, root for them. A beautiful and important work.
October 31, 2015
I love plausible fiction that is set in familiar surroundings...this time, in Milwaukee. The characters are believable, their situations are believable, their relationships are true...
November 19, 2015
This book was perfect. It was straightforward and honest and full.
May 4, 2016
Beautiful and moving interwoven stories radiating out from initial story about the tragic death of a 17 yr old boy who was helping a neighbor move a bookshelf.
June 28, 2016
Took a while to get through this story but was awesome to be able to relate to the books various locations
February 9, 2024
Toen ik aan dit werk begon, verwachtte ik me eerder aan een non-fictie antropologisch werk in de stijl van "Five Families" van Oscar Lewis. Dat is het dus niet. Maar dat doet absoluut niets af aan de waarde van het werk.
Jennifer Morales bracht hier een aantal fictieverhalen samen die verschillende thema's behandelen. De verhalen zelf centreren allemaal rond een gebeurtenis, de ongelukkige dood van een 17-jarige zwarte jongen, binnen een gemeenschap waar verschillende culturen samenleven.
De verhalen zijn zeer goed geschreven, goed verteld, inhoudelijk sterk en menselijk. Als lezer ben je als het ware deelgenoot van de gemeenschap en wat mij betreft had de bundel verhalen zich nog heel wat langer mogen uitstrekken.
Jennifer Morales bracht hier een aantal fictieverhalen samen die verschillende thema's behandelen. De verhalen zelf centreren allemaal rond een gebeurtenis, de ongelukkige dood van een 17-jarige zwarte jongen, binnen een gemeenschap waar verschillende culturen samenleven.
De verhalen zijn zeer goed geschreven, goed verteld, inhoudelijk sterk en menselijk. Als lezer ben je als het ware deelgenoot van de gemeenschap en wat mij betreft had de bundel verhalen zich nog heel wat langer mogen uitstrekken.
November 10, 2017
This book is beautifully written, truthful and incisive and sharply observed, and there's a little dose of hopefulness to round it out. It's really very good, and so I don't mean it as an insult when I say I found it very hard to read. This is my city on paper, everything I see and try to deal with every day. I would read a page or two and find myself cringing so much that my face hurt, and I'd put the book down and try to untense. But I continued on to the next two pages, and that's out of appreciation for the author's work and for the stories of this city.
April 8, 2022
As someone who spent a lot of time in Milwaukee I was immediately drawn to this book. It did not disappoint. Equal parts devastating sadness and riotous laughter ensured that I plowed through these stories in a little over a day.
I identified with a few of the characters, but it made me question my own beliefs about the world, and how we can better help others.
This book was like main lining empathy. If you live in MKE, or you have, read this book.
I identified with a few of the characters, but it made me question my own beliefs about the world, and how we can better help others.
This book was like main lining empathy. If you live in MKE, or you have, read this book.
January 20, 2018
A very interesting look into the racism that is still very much alive in Milwaukee. Very heartfelt and touching as well.
I won this book for free on the Good reads giveaways.
I won this book for free on the Good reads giveaways.
January 20, 2022
These stories have emotional depth and authenticity. Eager to read more from Ms. Morales.
August 8, 2022
A very important book to show us that we are all connected in life despite our race, gender, age, sexual orientation or other differences.
January 25, 2023
Interesting tying together of characters and storyline. Fun being able to picture where the events are taking place as a Milwaukee native.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews