I am kind of nervous posting on AML and having other people read it but I'll do the best job possible. I am reviewing Standing on the Promises, One More River to Cross Book 1, written by Margaret Blair Young and Darius Aidan Gray. It was published by the Salt Lake City publishers printing in 2000.

This book was really well written and really sucks the readers into its characters and the lives they are living. When I was reading the book I kept thinking about a slave narrative class I have taken and the way this book read was very similar to a slave narrative. So right off I was drawn in.

The main thing that I liked about the book is that it had a historical side to it. It touches on subjects in the LDS church and its past that most people are not aware of. I liked that the authors were daring enough to take that challenge.

The main character that I liked was Elijah Abel, and African American that was given the priesthood by Joseph Smith. It then goes on to tell about his experience as a black priesthood holder and the trials that brought him closer to the Lord that strenghened his testimony.

The book also goes on to tell about other African Americans and their journey to Zion. I really liked the character Jane, who was raped by a man in another church and named her son Sly after her rapist. I liked that she was hard headed and willing to give up so much for what she believed was the truth. The novel tells of their journey as black pioneers and how hard it was for them. I think for the most part people do not think of blacks when they think of early pioneers. So this was one of the aspects of the book that made it really stand apart and put it above many other Mormon books that have been written.

Overall I thought it was a well written informative book that I would recommend to other people and I cannot wait to get the two other books of this collection and read them as well.

-----------------------------------

Courtney Isom
December 14, 2005