Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush

by Virginia Hamilton

Why had he come to her, with his dark secrets from a long-ago past? What was the purpose of their strange, haunting journeys back into her own childhood? Was it to help Dab, her retarded older brother, wracked with mysterious pain who sometimes took more care and love than Tree had to give? Was it for her mother, Vy, who loved them the best she knew how, but wasn't home enough to ease the terrible longing?

Whatever secrets his whispered message held, Tree knew she must follow. She must follow Brother Rush through the magic mirror, and find out the truth. About all of them.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction, Family, Middle Grade, Supernatural, Realistic Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 13, 1982

About the author

Virginia Esther Hamilton was the author of forty-one works of fiction and nonfiction. She was the first Black writer awarded the Newbery Medal and the first children's writer to be named a MacArthur Fellow (the "Genius" grant). She also received the National Book Award and the Hans Christian Andersen Medal.

Reviews

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Virginia Hamilton had an uncanny ability to authentically express the imagination and terrors of childhood. She also--seemingly effortlessly--introduced African American culture and vernacular into her books in a way that is a little less rare today. This book won the Newbery Honor in 1983.

Tree lives in an apartment with her brother Dab, who has exceptional needs. Their mother, Vy, works away from home and comes when she can to bring money and food to her children. There is another central character, Miss Pricherd, a nearly homeless older lady who Vy pays to clean the apartment and check on the kids. Tree resents Miss Pricherd's interference and what she sees as her laziness. Tree is busy working overtime to go to school, cook meals with what food supplies they've got, and keep her and her brother afloat, more or less.

Tree and Dab live in a world on their own. I can't think of another book that illustrates how two siblings who are the victims of neglect and abuse form a bond that is stronger and more dependable than anything else in their lives.

But this is not a book based solely on the sufferings of the present world. Tree falls in love with "the most beautiful dude in the world." Turns out, he's a ghost with a connection to her family called Brother Rush. Brother Rush appears to Tree and Dab in a spare closet/small room of their home. Standing in the middle of a table, he holds one hand to his ear and carries a fascinating looking glass in the other hand. (The image reminded me of Jean Cocteau.) Brother Rush shows the siblings scenes from their early childhoods with Vy and their deceased father that are sometimes freeing, but also horrifying.

I won't give anymore away. I will say that Dab is a very well-developed character with a disability. Tree cannot stand for anyone to call him the r-word. That's not how she sees him. She does not resent taking care of him, even though it is too much for a person of her age. Vy's often cruel rejection of her son, who she calls "the boy," is terribly realistic. There is an undercurrent of the feelings of love and hatred between children and their parents which makes the book explode in certain scenes.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is Tree's relationship with Miss Pricherd. Tree works overtime to explain away the image of the ghost in the table when the older lady catches a glimpse of him and faints. Their relationship, one of two misfits who see and understand more than others, develops very nicely.

[Cookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, at first, was difficult to read, simply because of the language. However, as the pages passed, I was drawn into a story that was both sweet and sad.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initial reaction: Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush is a book with a solid story and foundation behind it. It's the first Virginia Hamilton book I've read in years, and while it took me a little longer to get through it than some of her works (House of Dies Drear, Justice and Her Brothers), I appreciated much of what it offered - offering the story of a girl who meets a ghost. It's the kind of story that says you have to study the past in order to learn what steps to take in the present.

Probably rating this somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars.

Full review:

I have not returned to this book in so long and I originally read it as a galley from NetGalley back in 2012 from Open Road Media, which published a lot of back-titles from Virginia Hamilton. As you may know from what I've mentioned before, Virginia Hamilton was one of my favorite authors as a kid. I feel pretty solid giving this a 3.5 star rating overall - it was a story worth coming back to. I re-read it again this year so I could have a fresh perspective of it. It's a winner of both the Newbery Honor Award, Coretta Scott King award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1983.

Teresa (Tree) is a teen girl, 14, who encounters Brother Rush and finds that she's the only one who can see him in his formal attire and with his cool demeanor. She develops a very quick crush on him, but realizes there's more to Brother Rush's appearance than meets the eye when he shows up inside her home. I still remember very vividly the moment she realizes the dude's a ghost and how she freaked out.

One of the reasons why this particular story appealed to me the first time I read it was because it's a ghost story -YA ghost stories and ghost stories in general are my jam. Also for the fact that Tree is a girl who takes on a LOT of responsibilities for her age. She takes care of her brother Dab who has a developmental disability while also caring for things in the house while her mother M'vy works away from home. You get the message very early on that Dab comes home from school and has issues that need caring for, as well as their mother very intentionally staying out of the house most days. Through a series of flashbacks, Brother Rush gives Tree an eye into her family's past, which carries a lot of weight and eye opening confrontations than Tree realized. This is a story with its share of heartbreak, though told in a way that's compelling.

I liked getting to know Tree in this. Her voice is authentic as you note her love for her mother and brother, likes and dislikes, and how she interacts with Brother Rush. Tree watches Brother Rush's visions presented to her through vividly drawn moments of flashbacks. Hamilton's use of dialect and prose bring you right along with Tree in her reliving of certain key events in her family life, including that of Rush's death, her mother's treatment of Dab, among other things. It's a coming of age/coming to terms story that doesn't hold back or talk down to the audience, but rather allows you to watch Tree come to these realizations about Brother Rush and her family.

There are certain aspects of this story that show its age for language and rep. One example, which I marked down for rating because of how it came across - if we look at how the approach to Dab's disability, care, and other aspects of his character are presented, they could have been a lot better for the way we note disability rep in fiction today. But to its credit, it showcases some very real (and hurtful) attitudes about how people see - particularly Black people - with disabilities and stereotype/stigmatize them. I got even back when I read it that Hamilton was presenting that with the intention of showcasing how horrible people treat those with conditions like Dab. I connected with Dab as well and seeing what happens to him broke my heart. Still, the overarching story of this was well worth following for what it offered. I know this is a story I would come back to re-reading and keep in my collection. I'm glad that it's included in the more recent release of Virginia Hamilton's omnibus collection. (Which includes "House of Dies Drear", "Zeely" and other stories.)

Overall score: 3.5/5 stars.

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley from the publisher Open Road Media.

[Heven · Rating 2 out of 5]

I obtained a copy of Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush from Net Galley for review .
It took me a long time to get into this book as the language and dialect took a lot of getting used to as there was a lot of slang and street lingo that was used, which for me is what made it hard to get read. It’s one thing to speak the words, but a whole other thing when you are reading it.
Tree, an adolescent girl is the first one to notice Brother Rush. Although she has been described as intelligent in her own right, she finds it necessary to do the minimum to get by at school, but everything she turns in receives good grades, she finds it necessary to not take the scholastic tests and not put a lot of effort towards thinking about her scholastic future.
Brother Rush, who first appears to Tree in a building not far from where she lives, but then mostly appears to her as the table in the “walk-in closet”. He shares his memories with Tree and only Tree. The encounters she has with Brother Rush although not frightening in anyway, they seemed to me to be quite disturbing at times, especially when he does not respond to questions Tree asks, instead just looks at her with “dead eyes”.
Even though I understand the reasoning behind the actions/reactions of Brother Rush, it was non-the –less disturbing to think of a ghost with no eyes, as I have always imagined ghosts to have eyes. In the end, it was sad, yet fulfilling to see all the things Brother Rush left incomplete at the time of his death, he was able to complete, appearing to Tree that one last time so she would be able to say farewell to Brother Rush………and Dabney.

[Agnė · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 out of 5

The story in Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush is slow-paced and at times seems a little bit underdeveloped. For instance, why should we care that Brother Rush killed himself instead of being killed in a car accident? Also, the ending is a little bit too neat and unnaturally optimistic. And why does Dab, Tree’s “retarded older brother,” have to die before Tree can have a normal childhood and everyone can become one big happy family? Seems kind of... ableist.

[Anna Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though the story is lyrical and haunting, it progresses very slowly and takes some time to develop.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad our instructor briefed us on "the 30 minute read."

[Elsie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is interesting and unique as it explores family relationships intertwined with the supernatural.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me tell you a story....

Once a girl named Tree was walking home and saw a beautiful man in some fine clothes (that she spent 5 pages describing) and fell instantly in love.

Tree went home to take care of herself and her brother who is intellectually disabled and likes to have sex with lots of girls.

Their mother is never around and Tree likes to sit in a little closet room and draw on a round table.

One day the beautiful man is in her closet room and she’s so happy that he’s there because he’s so pretty. Then she discovers that he’s actually a ghost because he’s standing in the table.

The beautiful ghost man, named Brother Rush, that Tree somehow magically knows, shows her an oval of light that she dives through. On the other side she witnesses her mother holding and keeping her brother tied to the bed because he destroys everything and eats his snot.

The ghost comes and goes, they go into the oval light, there’s lots of disease, secrets, tragedies and death. The End.

I do not like this book. I’ve decided Virginia Hamilton is really not for me. I’m glad other people love her works, but I am not one of them. I don’t like her characters at all. There’s a scene where Dab is assaulting some girl on the street and Tree gets mad at the girl because she calls Dab names. I was thinking like old Mrs. Pritchard, that boy is going to rape someone some day and yet it seems like that doesn’t matter. I find that very disturbing. The same type of attitude was in MC Higgins.

I don’t really get the style of writing. It’s unique and some people love it but I find it confusing and odd. I’m dreading that she has another book on the Newberry list. I had to skim this one just to get through. It was torture.

[Thomas Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Really weird book. The girl named Tree has to take care of her older brother, who gets really sick, while their mother leaves for months at a time to help other people in their homes. Never calls or drops by. And it turns out their mother got a boyfriend and a car and everything during one of her extended leaves. At least she always comes back in time, barely, to stock up on food.

AND it turns out that the mother had 4 brothers who all died and a life and a father of the kids who left her and everything, none of which she had told her kids about. So Brother Rush, the mom's baby brother, comes back as a ghost with a hand at his ear and holding a little piece of glass which brings the girl into the past to see small pieces of her mom's life. Weird.

So the book is NOT about being black, but the author feels the need to throw it in every once in the while just for kicks. And then she justifies some of their behavior as expected of Blacks and not as bad just because they are Black.

But again, mostly this story isn't about that at all. It's about a crappy mom and the girl Tree taking care of her sick brother while a ghost comes and shows them stuff through his piece of glass. Weird.

[Hannah]

It took me a long time to get into this book because it has a not-so-interesting start, but I found it fairly compelling by the end. I could definitely see the mythologies and folklore that informed it, and the appearance of a specter that informs a past wrongdoing reminded me of Beloved. I don't know why I always forget that Hamilton wrote novels and didn't just retell folktales, but I tend to respect but not adore them when I do pick them up.

This book would be a very hard sell, I think, though I think it should be read and would probably make a good classroom read for upper middle school or lower high school students, because you could look at it in the context of folklore-based fiction, class inequalities, and just fiction in general. The main reason I think it would be a hard sell is because many people tend to see written dialect and run the other way, even if I find that an obstinate and disrespectful thing to do to a book, not to mention an overreaction.

(response for a YA lit class for lib school)

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first class for Library School was Young Adult Literature. We read about 100 books in a month that summer. We were asked to focus on one author we liked and to write about that person. I chose Virginia Hamilton because I had never read such deep and moving literature for teens as I read on the pages of this book. Virginia Hamilton is one of the most honored writers for children. Sadly she died a few years ago or I'm sure we would have been hearing much more from her. Her characters are so real -- and what I suppose was so miraculous to me was that I enjoyed a fantastical fiction book with a meaningful ghost as one of the characters. I normally shy away from such literature. But Virginia Hamilton is able to combine reality and fantasy in such a way that one is both moved to tears and to action. I don't think there is a finer author of books for children and regret that she was not more recognized in her day. I want her husband Arnold Adoff (www.arnoldadoff.com/) -- a poet and a wonderful writer in his own right -- to know that her work is still being appreciated.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl meets a man and falls in love with him. What she doesn't know, but finds out later, is that he's a ghost. Duhn-duhn-duh!! Why is he there? What has he come to tell her? Ooohhh...

[Alacyia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trigger warning: The use of the word 'retard' is used in this book. Not frequently but it's used.

I first read this book in grade school and it was my favorite book as a kid. I wanted to see if it still felt the same as an adult. (It did)

The majority of this book occurs over the course of a weekend. This book follows 14 year old Teresa(Tree) and her life as care giver for her mentally handicapped brother Dabney(Dab). On her way home from school she notices an odd but handsome stranger, at a stoop. She sees he's not like the other neighborhood boys and knows it's something about him that she can't put her finger on. When she sees him in the middle of a table in her apartment closest she realizes he a ghost. The ghost, Brother Rush, takes her into a world that where she learns about her mother as a young woman and her mother's youngest brother, Brother.

Her journeys with Brother Rush reveals forgotten/hidden family information that sheds light into her brother's condition and why her mother is the way she is. Tree has so much adult responsibility that one forgets that she's just a kid herself and there's so much she's yet to understand. Learning about how different her and her brother's childhood experiences where opens her eyes to the shortcomings of the adults in her life, particularly her mother. Her emotional reaction to these revelations, especially how they relate to her reality, is understandable and heartbreaking.

I love this book just as much now as I did when I was a kid. I understand so much more of the full story now that I've read it as an adult.

[Amber Scaife · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teenaged Tree and her brother, Dab, live together - and alone - in a shabby apartment while their mother lives and works elsewhere (it's not entirely clear where and at what) and occasionally visits to fill the fridge and cupboards for them. It's far from a perfect situation, but Tree loves her brother and seems to have contented herself with all the hard work that goes into caring for the two of them. But then she starts seeing the vision of a young man standing in the middle of the table in a back room of the apartment, and gradually comes to realize that he is the ghost of her mother's brother. He tacitly takes her through his memories, back to when she was little more than a baby, and she learns some disturbing things about her family. Her uncle has, it seems, come to her as a harbinger of soon-to-be events which will change her small family forever.
I'm not sure what to say about this one, mostly because I'm still not sure how I feel about it. It's a strange little story, disturbing in parts, both in its actual plot content and in its disjointed structure. Tree's mother is troubling on many levels, not least of which is that I can't tell if Hamilton means for the reader to be as angered at her actions as I was. It's certainly an interesting story, and definitely different than a lot of offerings in this genre, and Tree's character is well drawn and instantly one for whom you want to root.

[Amy Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's certainly a reason as to why Virginia Hamilton is sometimes called the YA Toni Morrison.  Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush is often even referred to as a YA Beloved, and it's clear why upon seeing the similarities between the two books involving ghosts, abusive but loving mothers, and a haunting past.  

But as a work by itself, Sweet Whispers was phenomenal.  This book discusses so many difficult topics with a nuanced tone--it discusses abuse, caretaking, homelessness, illness, classism, and so on and so forth.  Not only does it discuss all of these ideas, but it discusses them well.  

Not only that, but the characters in this are just so realistic and wonderful and three-dimensional.  They're angry, they're sorry, they're sorrowful, they're loving.  They're a family, as disjointed and dysfunctional as they may be.  And that's another part of what makes this book so incredible.  Not only does it discuss such ideas in a way that's nuanced and makes sense for the audience, but it weaves this discussion with characters who pop.  They're an integral part of the story--there's no way to write this book without Tree and Dab and their mother and Brother Rush.  It's all just absolutely wonderful.

Review cross-listed here!

[Leanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sweet Whispers in its totality, was… well, just “okay”. There were some dislikes along the storyline, but, fortunately, enough surprises to carry me through to finally mildly enjoying the piece.


I’ll admit that when I started the book, the African American Vernacular was a little difficult for me to decipher. Perhaps decipher isn’t the best choice of words, more like the phrase hard-to-get-my-rhythm is more of an accurate description of my predicament. The same phenomenon happened when I read Pearl Cleage’s What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day and Elizabeth George’s What Came Before He Shot Her. Cleage & George used the same writing style true to the roots of African American culture. Once I was about half way though the book, things started to click and the story just progressed, flowed, and came together in an intriguing plot.


The same was true with Sweet Whispers. I believe that Sweet Whispers couldn’t have been written any other way by Hamilton. To quote Hamilton, herself, “if a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world”. If Hamilton wouldn’t have written the narrative of Tree, and the dialog among the characters in the tradition of their culture, I don’t think it would have been as striking of a story for me. As Lea states in her article, “by virtue of the ‘right’ categorization or label, if one is deemed to fit in, an individual is assured a place in the community” (p. 56). Tree’s “community” is her African American culture. When M’Vy tries to make her speak more “intelligently”, she is ultimately telling her to try her best to fit into the white community, not her own. This “duality” conflict is nicely supported by Lea’s article; a fabulous companion to reading Sweet Whispers.


I was surprised by Hamilton’s use of Brother Rush. I think that another set-back from instantaneous attraction to Sweet Whispers was that I really didn’t understand the fact that Brother Rush could be seen by Tree, Dabney, and Miss Pricherd but didn’t seem visible to the boys on the street? Equally as odd, why couldn’t M’Vy see Brother Rush? For some reason, I wanted Brother Rush to be exclusively Tree’s; Tree’s secret, Tree’s prized possession that could take her away from the trials of her everyday chores of existence. This exclusivity would have made me feel more like Sweet Whispers was actually a “fantasy” novel. For some reason the availability of Brother Rush made me feel the story was of normal, everyday happenings.


So, I’m sure you’re probably wondering what I actually liked about the book. I think what drew me in and kept me coming back was how relatable Tree was in her yearning for family, heritage, and connection. The book truly echoed Sobat’s concept of “rememory”; particularly her notion of the “living-dead”. When Sobat states “a person who is physically dead but alive in the memory…is remembered…” and when the memory is gone, so is the person, she is putting words to what Tree is starving for: connection to herself through her family and her history, so that she is not forgotten. Two of my favorite quotes from the book that resonate with this sentiment are:


“Tree and Dab never had time to find out about the past, they had so little of the present” (p. 50)


&


“If you never told there’s some answers, how you gone know the questions?” (p. 135)


Coming of age, moment of reckoning, the turning point between never being the same and never turning back to who you were… these are themes of Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush. I believe that one of the defining moments in a young girl’s coming of age is the realization that her mother is fallible. Towards the end of the book, Tree realized what Baker stated in her article, “it [the reckoning:] allows her [Tree:] to lose her self-consciousness and to find comfort and confidence in her physical being, to exercise the power that has always been hers” (p. 249).


After further reflection, I do not necessarily feel that M’Vy’s faults were the sole catalysts of Tree’s coming of age. Sobat definitely struck a chord in my reflection of the piece when she wrote, “‘rememory’ [is:] so essential to both girls’ mythic quests for selfhood, identity, and ultimately survival” (p. 168). I believe that Tree realized, through Brother’s “travels”, her roots, her sending-culture, and all the reasons she is who she is and my M’Vy is who M’Vy is. This realization echoes Hamilton’s musings on two hearts, the battle of “two allegiances, the one, of being black and the other, of being American” (p. 17). For Tree, I believe she also fought an additional battle of two hearts: her heart for the past and her heart for her new future. I believe that both Tree’s past and M’Vy were the cause for Tree’s growing pains just as Hamilton states, “we carry our pasts with us in the present through states of mind, family history and historical fact” (p. 16).


Coming of age, moment of reckoning, the turning point between never being the same and never turning back… these are themes emerging in Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush. The characters grew to realize that they, their friends, their family, and even society were fallible. This realization turns to liberation but not without struggle and not without pain. I am beginning to realize that fantasy is truly about educating readers on the power, albeit it sometimes unpleasant, of transformation. I believe Lea would agree, for she opens her article with a similar tone, “the secondary worlds created in fantasy encourage the reader to compare and contrast the real world with the imaginary…fantasy as a genre can be transformative” (p. 51).

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this in middle school. I remember thinking it was so strange and mysterious, and read it several times. It's funny what sticks with you; the images of Brother Rush and his gloves, of the pain of sunlight on his skin, never really left me.

Reading as an adult I can see why it appealed so strongly--the narrator Tree, as a young teen, feels so strongly about her brother, about her mother and her lack of family. The sense of isolation and fierce protection of her brother are very real and relatable--as well as her frustration in not knowing or understanding so much that she feels has been kept secret by the adults in her life, and the growing awareness that there is so much that she doesn't know. It's a coming of age story that can be relatable on a emotional level while still being a ghost story at the same time.

[Nastacia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book as an adult, I can't believe I read this book in elementary school. Still one of my favorite books but my God the tears.

[Cheryl]

Omg if someone had warned me about the child abuse I would have avoided this as triggering... fortunately I'm not falling apart right now (about 1/2) and I do hope to finish it... one reviewer described it as "sweet" which, well, huh?... most complain about the dialect which does not bother me at all.... if you want to sell it to youth, try selling it as a ghost story... but don't make it required reading or you will have to fight parents.
---
Ok done. Yeah, pretty intense. But, because Hamilton is brilliant, and knows that life doesn't obey the rules of a story, all the bad stuff has context. And the context makes it easier to read about. Still, it's certainly not something I would have liked to read when I was, say, 13.

"The few hours of having M'Vy with them on her short weekends at home were precious. They would let M'Vy give them all she had to give, and they let her talk about what she cared to talk about. Thee and Dab never had time to find out about the past; they had so little of the present."

"... It don't matter what the Man do or say to you, the Grandpaw and Grandmaw's got all the love inna world for the boy. Grandpa Custiss just yessir the Man to death, it don't matter a-tall because they keeping the boy, Richard, close. Then the enemies gone and kill the grandpa for nothin."

"Girls who took shop said Mr. Sawallow was respectful and kind, showing the dudes something."

"Tree thought, Sweet, whispers Brother Rush. Naw, that ain't it. It, Sweet whispers, Brother Rush. Brother Rush!"

(Actually, I prefer the interpretation of how I read the title before I knew that Teresa, aka Tree, was also aka Sweet. I had assumed that Brother Rush's whispers were sweet. Well, he doesn't talk or whisper, so I guess not. Unless, of course, we decide that this book is the kind of work of art that the reader can interpret however preferred. In which case, maybe all three ways are 'right' enough.)

[Della Tingle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I definitely struggled to finish this book. I am so very glad it is over and I can read something enjoyable now. Mom leaves her 2 children at home alone for days, even weeks, on end so she can go work. She has a life including a boyfriend and a car that her kids know nothing about. One of the children is special, and the little sister cares for him alone. The children begin seeing a ghost who is their mother's brother. Through him, they see visions of the past like mom chaining the boy to the bed. What? Who does that? Just...ugh to mother...for not being much of a mother at all...

I typically do not enjoy reading dialects that include poor grammar. I just do not enjoy that page after page after page. Every bit of dialogue was like this: "I want stay in here wif you" (77). It just bothers me, and I want my reading time to be pleasurable, not frustrating and annoying. "I'm laughin wit chew" (81). Well, at least one of us is laughing...

Silversmith is introduced later in the book, and I enjoyed his character. "Trouble is human. We bound to have it one time" (140). (Or 100. Or 1000. Or 10,000.) Silversmith is one of the best parts of this book, as is the ending where they create a family with Miss Pricherd.

Mom says, "Get all the education you can think of" (140). Yes! Yes! Yes!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virginia Hamilton’s book was interesting for me. It was not one that I melted into right away. It required more concentration and some dedication before I was hooked and pulled in. I think that perhaps language played a part with this. I once read a book that was translated from Portuguese, and it seemed to have the same effect. Hamilton’s use of dialect required a mental adjustment for me that I had to slide into every time I read. This was why I finally gave in by staying put for a couple of hours to finish the book off in one go. Once in, it was easy to be taken with the story and the dialect. I loved it!

The use of dialect was an additional dimension into Tree’s life and culture. I noticed a similar feel in the elements of M’Vy discussing the “mystery” after Tree tells her about Brother Rush to those elements in The Secret Life of Bees. It was that pull of religion, mythicism, and African tradition that comes from a deep sense of unity and history within African American culture. It is an fascinating theme in which Sobat elaborates - that of the supernatural or spiritual experiences run through Hamilton’s and Morrison’s novels, as well as within the African American community. I thoroughly enjoy the discussions that rely upon something beyond scientific proof...which is probably why Carl Jung’s ideas of a spiritual experience as a way to bridge a gap over insanity and into healing versus Freud’s more scientific-based claim that such experiences manifest insanity.

Brother Rush was a captivating entity within the story. I loved him in the “rememories.” Even though he was not terrifying in her encounters with him in the center of the table, I found myself a bit disturbed with Tree’s descriptions of Brother Rush not ever talking or responding to her. On the street was not a problem, but in the table with “dead eyes” and no response to Tree bothered me. I understand Hamilton’s purpose in doing this, but it did not stop my nightmares of ghosts from coming :). It was a strange reaction to have considering the non-threatening way that Hamilton wrote him into the book. I was happy he had “done his job” when Tree finally said goodbye, but I was still sad to see him go... and Dabney, as well.

I was puzzled in the way that Hamilton introduced Dabney. It took me a long time to realize the full extent of his issues and mental disabilities. Hamilton’s ability to establish a link and deep connection between Tree and Dab was profound. I found such a depth of closeness in the midst of their lonely existence that touched me. I also appreciated the realness with which Hamilton addressed the loss and anger Tree felt. It was horrifying to be somewhat of a witness to all that M'Vy had done and yet satisfying to have the protagonist hold her mother accountable (and see a bit of M'Vy's perspective), and then for Tree to slowly find a way to exist with her mother again. As disturbing as many of the elements Hamilton’s book addressed, she did a masterful job of bringing some healing and resolution to the ending. While it was not completely resolved, she was headed in that direction.

[Mostly on Storygraph · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Review written by my younger self]
I turned the last page, expecting more and yet finding only the short bio on Virginia Hamilton. I felt like nothing had really been resolved. Hamilton's adolescent novel, Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush, left me very disappointed by the ending. However, in looking back I realize now how powerful and effective a writer Hamilton is, and that I was wrong in initially accusing her of the deus ex machina. A lot of my initial disappointment came from my lack of insight into the text. On second read, though, I find that the precise and all-inclusive details give much insight into the issues behind this story of a brother and sister, their deadbeat mother, and the mystery behind their dead uncle, Brother Rush. The issues of disease (specifically porphyria), family, and the "poor man's reality" is evident in all scenes presented between Hamilton's vivid characters.

The surreal existence of Brother Rush is comparable to the mystery surrounding the title character in Morrison's Beloved. Lovers of Morrison's story will highly benefit in their read should they continue the idea of the mystical versus the tangible in this tale. A seasoned professor at my university, in fact, refers to Hamilton as the adolescent's version of Morrison.

Readers of Hamilton's novel will benefit from reading it with more than just a shallow glimpse into the story itself. Even young readers can appreciate the many social ramifications the novel carries throughout its pages. While Hamilton does ilicit a happy ending, it is tainted with a deliberate cynicism and a thought-provoking aura that characterizes Hamilton's writing.

[Miss Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The topic of this book is right up my alley, so I don't know why it took me a little bit to get into.

The characters were well drawn, once I got into it. I was really intrigued by the glimpses of the past, disturbed and conflicted (just like Tree) about M'vy and the way she treated Dab (now and in the past), and I also really liked the Sylvester character.

The ghost aspect was handled with a light hand - very gentle and non spooky or scary.

The dialect was a tiny issue for me. Although I understand the desire to make people read words the way they are said, and gain the flavor, to me there is something false about writing things like "Now is deh time" and "She can stay by her sel, shu, she almost..."

I think it is false because that isn't what those people are saying. They are saying "Now is the time" and "She can stay by herself, shoot,..." That is the meaning they are communicating, but the meaning is getting lost.

Now, I LOVE it when the flavor of the everyday language of black folks comes through, don't get me wrong. And that actually happens a lot in this book, too. In great sentences like "She knew about college, shoot. She knew nobody was gone give it to you."

Most of the book is done in this vein, lilting in and out seamlessly between casual black English dialogue and a more formal English narrative.

Very nice.

I must say, though, that the covers of Virginia Hamilton books have always been unappealing to me. I know, I know = the whole book/cover thing. But I just had to say it. I don't know if it is the era in which they were printed, or the artist, but I just don't like the way they LOOK.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Teresa first notices the handsome stranger out on the street, she falls hard for him. Several weeks later, he appears in her apartment, and it's only then that she knows that he's a ghost, Brother Rush. He takes Tree and her mentally challenged brother Dab on journeys into the past, and slowly Tree realizes in these glimpses of the past, Brother Rush may be telling her something about her own present.

Hamilton's writing is wonderfully lucid and descriptive, showing Tree's thoughts in a language and idiom that perfectly express her character. Here's a passage I especially liked, from Tree's first meeting with Brother Rush in her apartment:

"The sweatshirt she had on couldn't keep her warm. Yet she was aware of the moment when the cold turned into something she could live with. Fear was sealed inside her, like a tatter of paper from her ream. And if you opened the tatter, it would read: This is all the scared I can get.

The categorizing part of my brain wants to say that this is fantasy, because it's a ghost story. I suppose technically it is, but it's so rooted in reality that the supernatural doesn't feel especially fantastic. It's simply a book about people, about Tree's relationships with her brother and her mother, who has to work so hard to keep the family going that she's rarely there, leaving Tree to take care of herself and Dab. It's a bittersweet book, full of loss and sadness, yet also full of love and hope.

[Dani Shuping · Rating 3 out of 5]

Electronic copy provided by NetGalley

This is one of the most difficult reviews I've attempted to write, in part because I just couldn't get into the story at all in the beginning. I tried on three different occasions to read this story before finally finishing it on the third go round. And I feel like I need to read it one more time to fully understand what it was that I read.

I think part of the problem I had with getting into the story is that the dialect is just something that I’m so unused to and unfamiliar with that I had trouble following the story. The realism, yes even with a ghost, made it that much harder to grasp onto because I don’t have the experience to connect with what was going on. But about half way through the story it finally clicked and I could settle in and enjoy the story of young Tree trying to come to terms with life and her family. I was finally able to relate to the characters and what they were going through.

This is a book that I think I really need to read one more time to really get the story or have someone else to talk to about it...and someday I’ll look forward to doing that.

[HeavyReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to read this book again.

I hadn't thought about this book in years and years and years. I just happened to see it again right now. I was looking at the page for Dinky Hckper Shoots Smack, and this book was listed on the side. As soon as I saw the title, I remembered it as a book I read repeatedly in middle school, maybe into high school. But I can't really remember the plot of it, even after reading the summary and some other reviews.

The weird thing is that as soon as I read the title, I started getting a tingly turned-on feeling. I associate this book with feelings of sexual excitement that happened to my young girl self.

I have to read this book again.

Update: I don't know why I remembered this as a sexy book. It's really not. Early on, there is some talk of the older, mentally disabled brother having girls over spending the night in his room. That part seems a little sexy, but that's it.

The four stars are for the way I remember feeling about this book when I was a kid. These days, I would only give it two.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenagers and younger people often like to view life in black and white. People and things are either good or evil. Truth belongs to one group, and teenagers, at least in their minds, are usually right. I think this book is great because it challenges thinking about life as a dichotomy. Tree's mom does some really horrible things, but in the end she still really loves her daughter and is sad about her actions. Tree seems to be really negative about the lady who comes to clean for them, and the lady seems to be really lazy and uncaring about doing her job. In reality, this lady is going through a lot of struggles and has some valid reasons for not doing her job right. In the end, she ends up being a very good cook, and Tree sees her as a grandmother figure. I guess the moral is don't judge people too quickly. Don't just place them in a category in your mind that they will never be able to escape from. Leave some room for growth, and leave some room on your own shelf... for this great book :)

[Verkiezen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vy first sees Brother Rush in a crowded street, and that's about the time she falls in love with him. But she has connections to Brother Rush she doesn't know about and his presence will disrupt her life as well as her mother's and her brother's.

This is one of those books that I really really wanted to like, but I just couldn't. I couldn't get past one of the major plot points...spoilers so skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to know...While I appreciated the dialect and the writing as that dialect is rarely seen in writing and Hamilton does write some beautiful moments, it just killed me that there was such a major incest topic. Like I don't know why it was necessary. And I don't know why it was never like hey it's a little weird to like your uncle that way. It's not even like a second cousin or something! Plus the age difference bothered me a lot too.

Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush might be loved by a certain kind of person, but I can't even figure out who that would be to recommend it to them.

[Haley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tree meets brother Rush, he's a ghost. Mother's absentee, sole caretaker of mentally-ill brother Dab. Experienced his memories, he was her uncle. Old bad cleaning lady came over and saw the ghost. Gets more memories of Rush's, her mother hates Dab. Takes care of Dab some more. Mom comes home, they argue about her staying away, she show's him Rush's ghost. More memories of her uncle. Witnesses her father's and Rush's death, Mom didn't see the ghost. Got to take away Dab caz he's sick, mom tells her her father's still alive. Dab in withdrawal, goin to the hospital-is porphyric. Learns it's not selfish to want things for herself, & it's normal to be self-conscious. Dab in the hospital real sick, Tree's worried. Dab dies, Tree goes crazy, realizes Rush killed himself. Tree threatens to run away, old cleaning woman comes to live w/her and take care of her. Went to the funeral, begins to learn that people care for her, and that she can still have a family.