THE ROOT WORKER

A horrific subterranean maze of darkest superstition and cruel, crude magic underpins and undermines the world of the 11-year-old girl who narrates this powerful and disturbing first novel. Ellen is a poor African-American child growing up on Detroit's Lower East Side in the 1960s. She has a ragged connection to a terrifying reality. In her mind, she refers to her mother as the Woman, to her father as the Husband. When she becomes pregnant, she barely knows how or by whom. Her confidante, Clarissa, may not exist at all except in Ellen's tormented imagination. The Root Worker, a voodooish maker of spells and curses—for an extortionate price—has convinced the Woman that Ellen is the cause of the bad luck that befalls the family. Harrowing efforts are made to cast out Ellen's evil spirits. Ellen knows, from the sisters at the Catholic school she attends, that the Root Worker is the devil's handmaid and that it is a sin to believe or buy her charms and "fixes." Ellen's salvation finally comes from a neighbor who recognizes the child's plight and sets her mind and heart on reclaiming Ellen for the human uplands of hope and trust. This is a challenging, strongly written debut by a writer with the compassion and courage to peer into a very dark place. (June 19)

Forecast:A strong contender for inclusion in African-American curricula, this book is also a natural for workshops and conferences on child abuse. Readers who appreciated Trezza Azzopardi's The Hiding Place will find this novel equally forceful.