3.5 stars - The titular Heaven & Earth Grocery Store sits in Chicken Hill, PA, a mixed neighborhood of Jews and blacks who uneasily coexist with the nearby white population of Pottstown. Its proprietress Chona, a disabled Jewish woman with strong opinions, is a friend and champion of the African American community who makes the fateful decision to look after a deaf black child Nate, hiding him from the state, which spurs the story forward. Unfortunately, the plot is rather slow and convoluted with McBride more interested in sharing (admittedly interesting) side stories of the neighborhood's eccentric, soulful characters. The strength of the book is in his writing of the meaningful connections that form between the characters and how they protect each other, whether from a KKK affiliated doctor or money woes or even from their own criminal past. I just wanted a more propulsive core narrative with a tighter, less chaotic ending.