When Dad killed Mom Book

I've just finished up reading ''When Dad Killed Mom'' by Julius Lester. It has been a very interesting book to read and definitely have enjoyed it. The book can pretty much be defined by the title. It shows the emotions and actions two children went through after there father was thrown in prison for killing there mother in broad daylight. The author explains his reasoning for writing this book in the back of it. He explains that when he looks at people he wonders what they have gone through or if they are happy when they go home at night. He said he had lost alot of people close to him as a child, but never a parent. He never understood how someone so young could deal with a tragedy so bad like one of there parents passing away.(Authors note pg.197) So, from that he pretty much wrote the book from a little bit of experience and alot of curiosity. I believe he wrote this book for others who are also curious on what children in that situation would go through. It gives people a little sense of what they are going through and how you should act towards them if you knew someone who did experience it.

This book is narrated by the two children in the story, Jenna and Jeremy, who lost there mother. I feel that it is very important that they tell the story because its there emotions that we want to know about. while alot of people have been on the outside looking in, many have not been there or experienced a death of a parent. The two characters take turns narrating in this story so you get the view from being a little boy and a teenage girl. This story is very moving because it is very accurate. I haven't read anything in it that has been unbelievable, it all seems to be something that could really happen or something i have heard happen before. I really don't connect with anyone in the book. Everyone in it had encountered the death of the children's mother. I haven't had anyone real close to me die so i cant say that i connect with them. I do believe that the author did get his point across that he wanted because, I did feel the emotions and sadness that the kids felt while dealing with everything. I cant think of a specific movie or television show that is comparable to it. It would have to be a movie where a child's parent dies so you can encounter the emotion and the things the go through like in this book. The title is ''When Dad Killed Mom'' and that is exactly what the book is about. The title gives a sense of what is going to happen in the book but there is so much more to go with it. I don't think that this book could be recommended to a certain person but definitely a person who is interested in that type of stuff. Its not a mystery book so if that's what your looking for this is not it.
My final conclusions of the book are that it was a good book. I don't read many books so it might just be my opinion. This is the first book i have read by Lester and I wouldn't mind reading another. It was enjoyable at times and at other times you cant wait to hear whats next.''The police found him at home sitting on the front door step with a gun pointed at his head like he was going to kill himself''(pg. 18). If this quote doesn't get you interested don't worry it only gets better. I think that the ending could have been more interesting but the ending shows the truth and how it was supposed to end. I would rate this book with 4 stars and not 5 because I heard that Lester has written books that are ten times better. For being the only one of his books that I have read it was good and I would read another.