It would seem that the point of Tracie E. Christian’s new book, ‘The Black College Sabbatical Winter Quarter’, would be – in her own words – for the reader to “gather a glimpse into how location can impact the decision-making process in young adults as they struggle to grow up.” That is the stated point and purpose of this book.
The setting of the novel is Heritage State University, an HBCU (historically black college or university), where the tales and testimonies of life behind the guarded (and often alien) walls of academia are lain bear. Interestingly, Christian noted that while some of the students at Heritage “may actually be excited about gaining some book sense…others may hurry back to pursue a long awaited relationship.” It is from this angle that the book both spins and twists heavily on a philosophic turntable of love, sex, drugs, (inter-racial) relationships, and death – while attempting to wrestle with the multitude of sub-dilemmas pervading any black college campus (where words like “tradition, cultural awareness, diversity, and ambition” intersect with reality, integrity, and responsibility).
For the most part, the book centers on common issues of puerile jealousy, random sex, and college love. And if college love is about syrupy confessions of unrequited love and amorous pursuits, Christian plays on our heart-strings like a Stradivarius. It is at these passionate moments in the book that Christian’s writing resembles the poetic depth of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Sonnet 32”:
“You can’t fight this anymore than I can. And I don’t want to anymore. You can let me in. I don’t want to hurt you. Let me take care of you. I can feel those words flow from Anthony’s lips like a sweetly written melody to a beautiful love song. No one has ever talked to me that way. No one has ever wanted to take care of me.”
Yet, these momentary spurts of lyrical charm will not carry the burden of what it takes to write a good book of reasonable literary worth and value. And, as 
I’ve stated before, no book is perfect – so Christian’s book is no exception to the ‘Push Rule’. So, my fundamental problem with ‘The Black College Sabbatical Winter Quarter’ is Christian’s refusal to grapple with relevant contemporary political issues such as Affirmative Action, as well as the momentous dialogue on the intellectual efficacy of HBCUs. (Christian does very little to engage these pertinent topics at the deep level.)
The matter of death, rebirth, and redemption can often serve as clever and crucial metaphoric elements when used properly and carefully. That stated, I took great issue with Christian’s treatment of death and redemption in “grandma” whose character should’ve been integral and vital to the climax of the book. When Cee-Cee’s grandmother dies (a climactic moment!), Christian misses the chance to deepen this tragic point of crisis by trivializing it away with banal dialogue:
“Cee-Cee’s grandmother died today.” When those words come out her mouth, my heart drops. I know how important Cee-Cee’s grandmother is in her life and I know she’s heartbroken. Apparently we are no longer being quiet because Eric, Cherod and Juan stop in mid-sentence to hear what Kyla is saying. “Mr. Tolliver drove her to the hospital and she died there…”
Christian’s opportunity “died there” as well. We wait to see Christian’s brilliant philosophic soliloquy (which would connect the story’s meaning to the plot, redeem its characters, and save the book). But, unfortunately, Christian does not linger with the issue of death. Although it is seen throughout the book – often times implied (metaphorically) rather than stated – yet, Christian does little to incorporate this important (philosophic) element into the book, instead, preferring to linger on the unimportant, uneventful, and unfulfilling.
However, according to Christian, the book does “shed a different type of light on the black college experience. One that exposes different components of HBCU life and how the relationships established there impact the students, as well as faculty and staff.” On that note, the book is worth reading because it presents and honest and candid portrayal of young life in academia, and the whole notion of what it means to leave home and head out into the real world. Christian says that her book “has mystery, suspense, sex, betrayal, forgiveness and redemption. It somewhat crosses mass genres because it has a little bit of everything it takes to make good fiction, and I think that makes it a meaty story.” And that is why the book is worth reading.
Push Scale: 3/5
Visit Tracie E. Christian @ www.tracieechristian.com or www.blackcollegesabbatical.ning.com
Visit Push Nevahda @ www.pushnevahda.com
