Jump at the Sun

by Kim McLarin and Kim McLaren

Book Overview

After a series of stressful personal transitions, Grace Jefferson finds herself in a new house in a new city and in a new career for which she feels dangerously unsuited: a stay-at-home mom. An educated and accomplished modern woman, a child of the Civil Rights dream, she is caught between the only two models of mothering she has ever known--a sharecropping grandmother who abandoned her children to save herself and a mother who sacrificed all to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060528508
• ISBN13: 9780060528508
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Wow! Savored every minute reading this book...

I savored this book. The self-discovery journey of Grace, suffocated by her "W town" existence and society's expectations of motherhood was often heartbreaking but it was like eating fiery salsa - you just can't stop. I appreciate that the author did not sugar- coat the very real feelings of many women as they suffer from ientity crises intermingled with depression as they transition from career to motherhood. Kim wove into the novel poignant stories of the generations of the women who came before Grace, and their struggles with race, sacrifices, motherhood, men, and the impact their decisions had on those around them. I'm looking forward to Kim McLarin's next novel.

Jump at the Sun

Grace Jefferson is a 35, highly educated, professional woman, married to a doting husband, with 2 kids "in the burbs" who seemingly has it all. She just doesn't want it. Jump At The Sun is the story of a woman who desires to be a mother, wife, daughter, and professional, but slowly admits to herself that she is losing herself as an individual in trying to excel in these roles. Simply, she is a woman in search of herself. She hopes to learn about herself by learning about the women in her family. Grace hopes that it will explain her decided lack of enthusiasm with dirty noses and cartoons. Her daughters and her husband seem blissfully unaware of her unhappiness, assuming, as we are led to believe, that her life is full. Grace's reaction to a possible pregnancy is a frantic call to public clinics around town looking for the morning after pill. That is our first introduction to her as a character. Through Grace we see the choices that women make, as lived by her mother and grandmother, one completely selfish, and the other completely selfless; in the end; neither ultimately successful. Ms. McLarin has taken a rather prickly subject, and dissected it through the prism of easy wit and poignant observation. With apologies to George Carlin, Ms. McLarin has blown the roof off of "the cult of the child." Grace loves her children; she's just not in love with childhood (once having been enough). As a reader, I imagine there may be some (more mothers than not) who may find her narrative a bit harsh. Those of us without children or the requisite desire may find a secret smile for all the thoughts we've had and never felt comfortable voicing. Either way, Grace is a hero--anti or genuine is up to the reader. Although I was unsure of what to expect, I must admit that I truly enjoyed this novel. Ms Mclarin has skillfully fleshed out what could easily have been cardboard characters. The most compelling passages are the unflinching clarity of Grace's observations, even as she struggles to recreate her jig-sawed family history. It is womanism from a slightly different angle, and lets face it, it takes some stones to explore a possible disconnect, supposedly present from birth. Familial leanings aside, Grace's character will stay with me for a long time, a pleasant and haunting aftertaste; long after her story has dissolved. Reviewed by: Angela T. Hailey, Black Butterfly Review

Amazing

I really really enjoyed this. McLarin has a great talent for being poignant. I was particularly enamoured with the depth she was able to convey with her prose without sacrificing the plot or making the novel tedious or dense. I will be buying everything she writes from now on. It was quite a treat to read an intelligent African American novel that did not dwell on race. I was a little put off before reading by the seemingly Cosby showesque cushy life style of the main character but it played out in a way that I thought was ethnically authentic.

Jumping for my Sun

I was looking for "Taming It Down" where I laughed, cried, booed, applauded & cheered throughout my read but "Jump for the Sun" had me looking at myself, my life, my choices and decisions, my mother, my sisters, my grandmother and my daughters. What have I passed on to them? What was passed on to me? Did I hurt them when I was only trying to prepare them for their journeys? A must read for young and old, if they are ready to look at themselves and want to push forward. We can learn from our pass but only if we are willing and able to look and accept life experiences for what they are....life experiences. It will have you saying hmmmmmmm.

deep character study

Ph.D. Grace Jefferson seems to be living the American dream. Her husband adores her and her two delightful daughters cherish her. They reside in a wonderfully large suburban home in the Boston area where her spouse is a highly regarded scientist and their kids attend the best schools. So Grace asks herself why she is unhappy. Perhaps it is in her DNA to want to flee family responsibility as her sharecropping Grandma Rae did in Mississippi and her mom Mattie did not. In fact she wonders if she fears she is sacrificing her life for her family just like Mattie did. Though guilt threatens to suffocate her thoughts, Grace knows she loves her husband and their two children though currently their nagging demands are driving her crazy as she considers leaving the nest like Rae did and Mattie did not; grandma seemed to have pursued happiness while mom sacrificed hers. JUMP AT THE SUN is a deep character study starring a fascinating woman who feels conflicting emotions that make any decisions difficult and somewhat unsatisfactory. Grace is a superb character as she is the epitome of Martin Luther King's I have a Dream with her education and her lifestyle but has doubts that is all there is as she is unhappy with her upper middle class existence. Though she openly detests de jure prejudice and proud of her state rejecting gay bashing laws like legally limiting marriages (Massachusetts has the lowest divorce rate in the country) and de facto prejudice (racial and gender poverty), Grace struggles with a deeper personal disaffection in this excellent thought provoking drama. Harriet Klausner