The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

According to a review that I read James McBride cites as his inspiration a camp outside Philadelphia where he worked every summer as a college student during the 1970s. At the time, it was called The Variety Club Camp for Handicapped Children. The remarkable camp director taught him lifetime lessons about inclusivity, love and acceptance--but he hasn't been able to write about it directly, so he gives us this, a novel about Pottstown, Pa., and a historically Black and immigrant Jewish neighborhood called "Chicken Hill." The Jews are moving on, looking to improve their lot in life, but not all of them, and this is a story that revolves around community, helping each other even if you don't look the same, and what that does for you and others around you. It is about this and so much more, but it is a beautifully told story and I don't want to give too much away, just read it.