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The French have a saying which, loosely translated says: "The more things change, the more they remain the same." THE CASE AGAINST MY BROTHER, a young adult novel set in Portland, Oregon in the early 1920s illustrates this very well. Carl and Adam Matuski have been orphaned. Their only relative is in Portland, so they take the train across country to stay with Uncle Pete. Adam is a bit of a lad and takes part-time jobs but secretly plans to leave Portland when he thinks Carl is ready. Carl goes to school and works at two jobs after school to help pay their way at their uncle's house. Adam goes out with the daughter of a wealthy man for whom he did some work. A valuable heirloom set of jewelry is stolen and Adam is accused of the theft. Carl tries to help him because he doesn't believe that his brother would do such a thing but the local cop haunts the neighborhood. After all, Adam and Carl are the sons of Polish immigrants and are Catholics and probably Bolsheviks, therefore Adam must be the thief. This story is told against the background leading up to the 1922 election in Oregon. By that time, the KKK was against all but native-born white Protestants. They are against immigrants, Catholics, Jews, and African-Americans. During the spring of 1922, the Masons in Oregon circulate a petition making attendance at Public School compulsory, thereby making all private and parochial schools in the state illegal. (The law was passed but eventually was overturned by the Supreme Court). This website doesn't usually review books with religion as the main focus. However, that's not the purpose of this short novel. It would serve as a good starting point in a middle school sociology class for a discussion on the way we are treating our immigrants and their religions, today.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, August 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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