5 stars out of 5!
“The kind of love that removes bricks in the wall of prejudice only comes from above.”
“...there is only one definitive, all-encompassing answer to what divides us, isolates us, and causes us to mistrust - transformation of the human heart through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Robert Whitlow has written a timely and important book that deals with a weighty subject - the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer at night. Sometimes the best novels are the ones ripped from the headlines and make you step out of your own comfort zone. A Time To Stand is this type of novel and hopefully will make you think, even after the book is complete.
What I really liked about A Time To Stand is that Robert Whitlow did not choose sides. It’s easy at times to lean one way, depending on your race or upbringing. But Whitlow allows the story to show you what each race, what each family is going through. There are times where your heart will feel for the Nelson family, the family of the white cop. There will be times when your heart feels for the black community and all the prejudice endured through the years. And maybe most importantly, you will see the human sides of both groups as they are portrayed in a way that shows their anger, their biases, their love, their shortcomings, and their need for grace and mercy. This is a story intended not to be an us versus them, but a call to stand together as one human race; a call to stand united with one God. And because of this, this is easily the best and my favorite Robert Whitlow book to date. We can all learn from this book since all of us carry biases to some degree. And all of us need to stand together in unity.
I also liked that there were some twists and turns, one in particular I saw coming as it drew near. I liked the realistic portrayals of Luke and Jane and also the heart of Adisa and her relationships with her Aunt Josie, Reggie, and Theo Grayson. Though the book may have dragged in a few different places to focus on food or medical care for Aunt Josie (my guess to reach the 400 page quota!), the rest of the story and meaning behind it more than made up for it. I recommend this book for those that enjoy a good story with 3-dimensional, realistic characters with a moral and depth to it.
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