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Black Brother, Black Brother

Jewell Parker Rhodes

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Aug 20, 2020 Alyson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio-books, owned, miss-browder-s-classroom-library, project-lit, summer2020

Excellent middle grade story that I will be encouraging my students to read! Listening to the author speak about the connections to her own family's experiences added to the power of this gem. ...more

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Aug 15, 2021 Danielle rated it really liked it

Shelves: social-justice, contemporary, project-lit-mg, audiobooks-read, middle-grade

"Skin color should not determine the ease with which one child is more fully embraced by society and the other is subject to racism." (from the author's note)

I'm a huge fan of Jewell Parker Rhodes and her work. I've read all of her books that have come out in the last 5 years and I really enjoyed each one. Black Brother, Black Brother is the third Project LIT title of Rhodes and I knew I needed to read this one. When Project LIT suggested reading this one in August as part of their Olympics them "Skin color should not determine the ease with which one child is more fully embraced by society and the other is subject to racism." (from the author's note)

I'm a huge fan of Jewell Parker Rhodes and her work. I've read all of her books that have come out in the last 5 years and I really enjoyed each one. Black Brother, Black Brother is the third Project LIT title of Rhodes and I knew I needed to read this one. When Project LIT suggested reading this one in August as part of their Olympics theme, I was initially surprised because I had no idea this book dealt with fencing. Um, what? A middle grade book about fencing, a sport that is typically ignored in literature? Sign me up!

This book follows 12 year old Donte and his challenges at being a Black student in a mostly white community. His brother, Trey, looks white, but they are both mixed. Trey has a significantly easier time in school because of his skin color and Donte is sick of it, especially after he is escorted out of the school in handcuffs due to something Alan, his nemesis, pinned on Donte. While Donte is figuring out how to spend his time on his suspension from school, he wanders to the local Boys and Girls Club and discovers one of the adult helpers there was a former Olympic participant. This begins Donte's journey to learning how to fence and quite literally, hoping to knock Alan off his feet.

I got some major Ghost vibes from this book just comparing the relationship between coach and student. I appreciate that authors are writing about other adults that are influential in a young person's life beyond parents and teachers. I also really liked exploring the differences between Donte and Trey and how different their lives and experiences were simply because of the color of their skin. Of course, I knew this happened, but to see how differently these brothers were treated will really help young people see the difference in how their peers are treated. Jewell Parker Rhodes is fantastic at writing really great middle grade novels. This is another one I am happy to recommend to my middle schoolers that will get them thinking critically about race in America without being too mature.

TW: racism, bullying ...more

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