Genna is the "good one" in a pack of siblings living with their single mother in a Ghetto in Brooklyn. Her brother just got arrested for drug dealing, her mother seems to be slowly alienating her sister by her worried and critical ways, and Genna does well in school and gets picked on for not being "black" enough.

Judah, a Rastafarian whose dream it is to live in Africa, takes notice of her and begins a relationship.

But then one day in the garden where Genna goes for refuge, something strange happens and she is sent back in time to the Civil War Era.

Treated not much better than a slave, she is witness to racial tensions in the North. When Judah joins her later with his own horrific story, Genna must hold true to her beliefs about people, race, and prejudice.

Genna was a wonderful, real character to read. She doesn't always make the right choices and lacks understanding based on experience.

The details of the Civil War period, as well as the interactions of the characters totally made me think, learn, and expand my understanding of the kind of challenges ex slaves faced in the North (labor disputes with Irish immigrants).

The speculative element in this one was superficial, just a mechanism never explained as to how or why Judah or Genna went back in time. The romance is also superficial, with hardly any build up and the tension provided more in the differing ways Judah and Genna view whites than their views of eachother.

The true meat of this story is the race relations, and for that reason alone, this book is worth reading. As it plays down some of the most disturbing elements of slavery, while still portraying shocking treatment, I'd put it in the hands of my daughters when they were middle school aged.

This Book's Rood Designation Rating: Turkish coffee, black, for the bitter, bitter, bracing and intense flavor of Genna's troubles.