The McCoy Game

 My favorite aspect of “The McCoy Game” was the importance Alston gave to music. Alston sets up the reveal of this by beginning the story with logic. For the first bit of the text, the two boys are only concerned with the logic of making their way through the house. They are deliberate in which direction they go and think out every decision using only their heads rather than their hearts. Jamal provides context to this thinking by explaining his and Dre’s family worldview. Their grandfather had a theory that there are caretakers out there that had their origins in Africa in order to “teach us stuff like math and science. Basically how to survive and thrive” (Alston 45). With this Alston sets the scene that it is science and book smarts that should get the boys through the house, making the reveal that it is music that saves them even sweeter.

Once again remembering their grandfather’s outlook, the boys recount a story of his about monsters as they try to fight off a breathworm. After realizing that the monster is in fact real, Jamal remembers their grandfather saying that “Music soothes the savage beast- that’s true on any planet, ya hear?” (Alston 52). Jamal breaks into “My Girl” by The Temptations and the breathworm begins to back down. It is Dre’s cover of “Stop In The Name of Love” by The Supremes that fends it off for good and allows the boys to escape to their happy ending- inheriting a house and a spaceship. Both of these musical moments are so powerful because they go against the logic that did not work earlier in the story and they are vulnerable expressions of emotion. Singing requires these boys to let their guard down and share something entirely from the heart rather than just the mind. This choice is also so beautiful because Alston’s focus on Motown and black music groups emphasizes the collection’s focus on black joy.

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