Title: Soldier of The Leaf
Author: Marvin E. Brown
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN-10: 1477260900
Genre: Memoirs
Pages: 278
Reviewed by: Aaron Washington

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In Soldier of The Leaf, author Marvin E. Brown recounts his childhood, the fond memories he had growing up and the challenges life tossed at him. The author is a superb narrator, as readers wll easily follow through as he writes his life story beginning from when he was young.

Marvin starts by narrating about life with his grandparents in Cairo, GA. (Grady County). His grandfather took him to the farm when he was two years old. He stayed with his grandfather as his mother could not take care of him after losing her job. Life at the farm was simple yet lovely. One could tell how fond Marvin was of his grandfather by how he described him. The two enjoyed spending time together, as the author learned life lessons and personal skills by watching his grandfather.

Life for Marvin was not all smooth all along. He came to experience ills of the world at a young age. As a black person in America, the author was bound to come across racism in every form. He recalls in the book when one day how the Ku Klux Klan attacked their home to discourage his grandparents and other African Americans from voting. This happened in the 1940s when President Roosevelt encouraged black folk to vote. The beauty of words is how they make you feel connected to the narrator. I enjoyed how Marvin explained the science in sugar cane harvesting. He narrated so well how his grandparents, uncle, and cousin worked on the sugar cane field and how they did the harvesting.

I immensely enjoyed reading Marvin’s story as he took the reader from his childhood to adulthood. The little boy from the south soon became a man on his own. Reading about the author, and his two friends Bill and Rudolf hitchhiking from Savannah, Georgia to New York in 1975 made me realize what a daring person he was from the beginning. I would listen to the author tell this story over and over again because of how fascinating their journey was. A young fourteen-year-old boy embarking on such a risky journey is both bold and naïve. It was, however, a worthwhile experience even with the potential risks. It was also an interesting thing as the journey made him tell the thrilling story.

Life in New York was not a walk in the park. The author struggled to survive. He, however, one day got a job by coincidence and life took a different turn. Marvin was given a job by Ray Scott as a Skate Guard. He worked hard in the tasks he was given. I admire his gusto and the effort he put in his jobs. He later rose to become a supervisor and then a principal supervisor. You will love reading the funny, sad, unbelievable and incredible stories Marvin shares about the employees, managing people who have different traits, the corporate world in New York and the trials he faced in his career. He also shares pictures of his family and himself at work. You will get an insider’s view of the Wollman Rink in the book.