If I Survive You by Jonothan Escoffery

If I Survive You by Jonothan Escoffery is about the lives of the members of one family in Miami--a family of Jamaican immigrants (except for the youngest son who was born in the US).  The first half gives the impression that the whole book will remained focused on that one boy who is obsessed with trying to come to grips with who he is.  His family tells of having ancestors who were European and West African.  His skin is colored, but light.  His hair is wavy, not kinky.  He is intelligent and speaks English like a "White person."  Blacks don't consider him to be Black because of his looks.  Jamaicans don't consider him to be Jamaican because of the way he talks.  Those whose families are from other parts of the Caribbean don't accept him because he doesn't speak or understand Spanish.  Whites don't accept him because he is obviously a person of color although it is hard for them to determine what kind of person of color.   His encounters with these groups are often hilarious.  When he does begin to befriend someone, he often spoils the relationship because of his search for trying to understand how he should be classified.  He goes to a Midwestern university and majors in English.  He can't get a job back in Miami afterward.  His father (who is now separated from his mother who has returned to Jamaica) has always considered this son to be "difficult" or "strange" for having no motivation and for being shy, quiet, not learning to speak within the family and neighborhood in Jamaican patois, kicks him out of the house a few weeks after he has returned to Miami from college due to his not showing any initiative in moving on in life--getting a job, planning for the future, etc.  But the book then starts having sections featuring the mother, his father, and his brother in which the reader learns their perspectives on all that has been happening within the family.  The young son lives a year in his car as a homeless person.  But he eventually gets a job working in a low-income housing development and eventually a better one more suited for him teaching at a private preparatory school.  His life continues to be plagued, however, with self-doubts, poverty, family problems, etc.  The book ends at a point where things can either turn around or continue to be bad.  I gave the book 4 stars out of 5.