A remarkable debut novel than limns the shadowy landscape between innocence and experience, The Root Worker is the riveting story of Ellen, an eleven-year-old african-american girl growing up in Detroit in the 1960s. As described in Ellen's own voice, the world is a threatening place. She is afraid of her teachers, nuns at the Catholic school she attends who instill in her a fear of punishment for sins she doesn't understand. She is afraid of her mother, who holds her responsible for her family's ills and is convinced that Ellen is possessed by evil spirits. But more than anything, she fears the Root Worker, a voodoo priestess who has Ellen's mother under her sway, who feeds her fears and insecurities, and ruthlessly torments Ellen in an effort to find a "cure" for her wickedness.

,br>Through all of these experiences, Ellen is in a constant search for "glue"-a place of safety, where no one can touch her. She finds a way there when she meets Barbara, a neighbor who tries to restore her trust in people. It will take a great deal, however, for Ellen to wrest herself from the people who have power over her. A novel in the tradition of Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Alice Walker's The Color Purple , The Root Worker marks the introduction of a sparkling new literary talent. It is a gracefully written and unforgettable novel.