Black and White

Volponi, Paul. 2005. Black and White. New Yourk: Penguin Group. pp 185. ISBN:0-670-06006-2

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 9-12. "Kids who are different colors don't get to be all that tight in my neighborhood. But we get past all that racial crap," says Marcus, an African American senior whose best friend, Eddie, is white. Together, the boys are known at school as Black and White. Both are basketball stars entertaining scholarship offers from local New York City colleges, but they risk everything for more spending money. Considering fast-food jobs too demeaning, they turn to armed stickups, and during their third robbery, they shoot and wound their victim. In alternating chapters, Marcus and Eddie recount the terrifying days after the event as they wait for the police to find and arrest them. The disparate treatment each receives highlights their racial divide, which is occasionally echoed on the streets in harsh language full of hate: a man on the subway tells a white girl that "niggers are going to fuck you, too." Using authentic voices that will draw in both strong and reluctant readers, Volponi writes a taut novel that avoids didacticism and deftly balances drama and passion on the basketball court with each boy's private terror and anguish. Teens will want to discuss the story's layered moral ambiguities, heartbreaking choices, and, as Marcus says, "the line that separates black and white." Gillian Engberg
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It's fairly common for a sports book to center around a minority group. This book is interesting in the way that it gives a perspective from two races. I think it will spark debate inside a classroom. Unfortunately, it's a debate about race and should be reserved for the most mature students in class. But I think the right students could take a good message away from the book. Small group work would be good with this book. It's also a good way to teach first person writing.