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The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs - 4* - My Review

This book chronicles the life of Robert DeShaun Peace, a brilliant young man from Newark, New Jersey, who overcame tremendous odds to attend Yale University but ultimately returned to his neighborhood and was murdered at age 30. Peace grew up in the rough streets of East Orange and Newark, where he was raised by his devoted mother Jackie while his father was in prison. He was caught in the middle between his mother's emphasis on education and his father's drug-dealing lifestyle. Peace earned a scholarship to Yale where he studied molecular biophysics and biochemistry. However, after graduation, he struggled to find his place in the world.

Hobbs has conducted extensive interviews with family, friends, teachers, and classmates. He avoids sensationalizing and maintains an intimate tone that allows readers to understand Peace’s strengths and vulnerabilities. Hobbs, who was Peace's roommate at Yale, writes from personal knowledge, but also recognizes his limitations from a racial and social class perspective. The book explores the complexity of identity for a young Black man attempting to navigate between different worlds. It conveys that trauma experienced at an early age can have lasting effects.

Peace often felt the need to hide his Yale background from his acquaintances and coworkers. He got involved in drugs, which eventually led to his death. Peace’s life story shows that brilliance cannot always overcome structural barriers, and how the pressure to succeed while remaining loyal to one's community can create difficult choices. It is hard to say I “enjoyed” this book, but it is well written and provides perspective to those of us in more fortunate circumstances.