Okay, so Smetch loved this book SO much that I bought it without even reading what it was about!

I didn't love it as much as Smetchie, but I didn't hate it either. I was attached to Cliffy as a character, and the writing was well done. It was just so dang depressing to me, from the ghetto and bakini dad, to depression and child abuse.

I doubt I would have purchased or read this book if not for Smetch's enthusiasm. However, if you like a sad story about a poor black kid who falls in love with his Jewish best friend along with a whole lot of sorrow in both of their family lives, then by all means, this book will be perfect for you. ( )

The really great thing about this book is that you really feel like your in the character's head.

I've seen a couple people say it's too graphic or some such. I think that's ridiculous. It has some sex and swearing, but nobody's eating babies or anything, and the book's not loaded down with it.

Great character development, good story, touches the heart while still being realistic and very much not rose-tinted.

I really hope the author publishes more books, and I'm very glad I won a copy. On a completely not-writing related note, the cover texture and design inside were very cool and unique. ( )

Okay, so Smetch loved this book SO much that I bought it without even reading what it was about!

I didn't love it as much as Smetchie, but I didn't hate it either. I was attached to Cliffy as a character, and the writing was well done. It was just so dang depressing to me, from the ghetto and bakini dad, to depression and child abuse.

I doubt I would have purchased or read this book if not for Smetch's enthusiasm. However, if you like a sad story about a poor black kid who falls in love with his Jewish best friend along with a whole lot of sorrow in both of their family lives, then by all means, this book will be perfect for you. ( )

I love Cliffy! He is thoughtful, intelligent, sympathetic, and kind in a sea of ugliness and hatred.

Finlater is set in the projects of Cincinnati in the barely post-segregation 1970s. The 13-year-old spelling champion and hero of this book enchanted me from the start. Intelligent Cliffy skips the 7th grade and meets his "soul brother," Noah. The boys are instantly drawn to each other and are launched into an amazing friendship that becomes so much more and teaches them about the overwhelming power of love. They cling to each other in the face of racial tension and crumbling families. Cliffy is struggling with the return of a father he's never known, who he refers to as "Bikini Dad" due to his choice of lounge wear. Noah's family is strained by mental illness. The child's vantage point created by author Shawn Stewart Ruff is honest and true and the characters are unforgettable. When I did manage to put this book down I couldn't stop thinking about them. It's tender and raunchy, sweet and real.

Some favorite moments:

[elderly German neighbor upon discovering that the new man around Cliffy's house is his dad.:]
"He's no dad. He's a child. A man-child. You more a man that he is. He break your mother's heart. The schwartze with big pee-pees is the reason for all these black children without fathers. Look at his underwear, you'll see.' She had a point about the underwear. According to the laundry blowing on the clotheslines, nobody's dad in our part of Finlater wore such fancy drawers".

[Cliffy's mom when she learns he doesn't want Noah to see where he lives.:]
"The only thing you should be ashamed of is the fact that you're ashamed. We don't choose our families or our families' situations. Hopefully you'll do better in your life than I have."

[regarding an older boy who had foreign porn mags.:]
"He could procure Swedish Pussy, and I guess it went to his head."

( )

Thirteen year old Cliffy Douglas, black and intelligent, lives in Cincinnati with his mother, two brothers and recently returned father. He tells of the time he was promoted a grade at school, and joins the class of older students to be seated in the only vacant space next to the Jewish boy Noah. The two boys soon become “soul brothers” and then lovers; Cliffy wants to convert to Judaism.

But life is not easy for the two boys, prejudice is rife, Cliffy's family has his own problems not least of which is the reappearance of his philandering and flamboyant dad. His mother desperately wants to escape the depressed area in which they live. His older brother hates his newly found father while his younger brother dotes on him. Noah's family is everything Cliffy's is not, but Noah's father is not well, and this causes Noah much distress. The two boys plant to run away, but events will eventually overtake them.

Cliffy is a delightful narrator, torn between loyalties to his much loved mother and his growing love for Noah, and his increasing worries at condemnation for his relationship with Noah, he always manages to remain positive. Finlater is a beautiful , moving and well written story. It is worth mentioning too that the book is imaginatively produced, its all matt-black cover has full size flaps and it is printed on heavy quality paper, it's a book you will want to keep for more reasons than one. ( )