Book Review of Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore

When I received this book, I put it on the table and continued with my daily activities.  I kept telling myself I needed to get started reading, but something else would come up and by the end of the week I soon forgot about it.  Mid Thursday evening I kept feeling the urge to read the book.  I finished cleaning the kitchen, picked up the book and parked myself in my chair.  The moment I started reading this book, I knew that is was going to be a very special addition to my book collection. 

Denver is a black man raised in Louisiana as a modern day slave to “the Man.”  He lived through many personal tragedies, such as watching his beloved grandmother named “Big Mama” and his uncle die in a house fire.

Denver worked hard growing and picking cotton for nearly thirty years until he finally decided to leave the only life he knew in search of a better one.  Denver jumps on a train to escape the life he has been living but finds it impossible for a black man unable to read, write, or “figger” to find employment, which leads him to living on the streets of Texas and running into trouble with the law for many years. Time in prison and the life on the streets makes him hard-hearted and he slips into darkness.

Ron Hall who is an arts dealer and his wife Deborah are rich and have much to be thankful for. Deborah reaches out to her community by helping serve the homeless dinner on Tuesday nights. It is here that Deborah meets Denver.  She sees something special in him despite his roughness and urges her husband to talk to him.  This is tough for Ron due to his distrust of the homeless people living around his business which is only validated when a couple of vagrants do a smash and grab taking jewelry and cash.  Eventually Ron gives in and the outcome is not what any of them could have ever imagined.

A quote from this book that will stick with me is one that Denver made in which he says “I hope people will recycle the love they’ve been given to somebody that’s not easy to love.”   What a beautiful concept to follow.  I found this book to be truly inspiring.  It is definitely one I will share in hopes that it will affect other readers in the way it has myself.



I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com Book Sneeze book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.