Black & White [Library Binding]

Malorie Blackman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1435201108 | ISBN-13: 978-1435201101

Sephy and Callum have been best friends since childhood, and now they are older and they realize they want more from each other. But the harsh realities of lives lived in a segregated society are beginning to take their toll: Callum is a nought--a second-class citizen in a world dominated by the Crosses--and Sephy is a Cross, and the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the country. Soon the barriers between them threaten not only their friendship, but their lives.

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-10–Excited by the idea that her best friend, Callum McGregor, will be going to her school, 13-year-old Persephone Hadley, daughter of a racist politician, is too young and too privileged to realize that friendships between naughts, like Callum, the son of her mother's former maid, and Crosses, like herself, are impossible in her segregated society. In this alternate world, recognizably English but with a twist, conditions for the pale-skinned naughts have improved little since the days of slavery; the dark-skinned Crosses have the money and power. Caught up in the hostility surrounding the school's integration, Sephy attempts to be a public friend and makes things worse. Readers familiar with racial issues in this country will see familiar patterns as Callum struggles with the hostility of his family as well as those outside. But in this world, the second-class citizens have turned to terrorism. Callum's older brother, denied schooling, has joined the Liberation Army. Caught up in escalating violence, Callum's family disintegrates, and there seems little for him to do but go the terrorist route as well. Over the years, Callum and Sephy drift apart, but their love remains. The teens take turns telling their story, and the parallels with Romeo and Juliet are clear. Some awkwardness in writing does not detract from the drama and suspense. The obvious message and wooden characterization will not diminish some teens' enthusiasm for this story of impossible love, which won several favorite-book awards in England where it was first published in 2001.–Kathleen Isaacs, formerly at Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 8-11. An alternative England is divided between the Naughts and the Crosses. Callum is a looked-down-upon naught, and, as readers slowly realize, he's white. His best friend, Sephy, a black Cross, comes from a privileged family for whom Callum's mother works. A misunderstanding leads to her firing, but Callum and Sephy maintain deep affection for one another. After Callum gets into Sephy's previously all-black high school, the world begins to close in on them. The premise--what would happen if societal roles were reversed--is not unfamiliar, but the way Blackman personalizes it makes for a thrilling, heartbreaking story. The tale unfolds in 117 short chapters, alternately narrated by Sephy and Callum, and readers will watch with something akin to horror as the teenagers try to sustain what has become love through serpentine wrong turns and events beyond their control: Sephy's do-gooder efforts, the suicide of Callum's sister, and Callum's family's turn to violence. Both fate and family conspire to keep the teens apart as the story winds to its inexorable conclusion. Gripping and deeply layered, this book will make readers question everything: race relations, government, friendship. But it is Callum and Sephy's love, tinged with a Wuthering Heights -like relentlessness, that wins in the end. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Paw Prints 2007-06-28 (June 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1435201108
• ISBN-13: 978-1435201101
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.9 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,201,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you must read this book!!!, February 18, 2004

By 

Franki (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Noughts and Crosses (Hardcover)

when i first picked this book up, i almost put it back down. for some insane reason it didnt jump at me but i opened it anwyay, and i read it. from the first chapter onwards i was hooked. i loved the way you saw the story from both Sephy and Callum's point of view so you understood their actions and i loved the way they grew up through the book. i wanted to scream with frustration at the incredible injustices in the book and its scary to think that racism like that does exsist in this world.

you definately need tissues handy. i dont think i have ever cried as much at a film or a book as i cried when i read noughts and crosses and as soon as i had finished it i had to go and tell everyone in my house about it and my friends. i've read it so many times now adn every time it still makes me cry. this is the best book i have ever read and everyone in the world should read it!! Malorie Blackman is a genius. the ending of the book was so sad and so beautiful it was incredible, i didnt close it even after i'd read the last page for a while, i was so moved by it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Book EVER!!!, June 23, 2005

By 

Baybear "Bookworm" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naughts & Crosses (Hardcover)

Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman is a fantastic book. In this book, the racial roles of our society is reversed. The whites aka naughts, work for the blacks aka crosses. Callum's mother used to work for Sephy's mother but that all changed when something happened(you'll have to read the book to find out what). With the alternating view points in every chapter you can really see into their personal lives and their inner thoughts. The book really has a lot of exciting plot twists. Their love for each other and what other people will do to ruin that will show you how shallow some people can be. What Callum does towards the end of the book will BLOW YOUR MIND!!!!!!!!!But you'll have to read it to find out.I encourage everyone to read this. I was so into this book I finished it in 1 day and it has almost 400 pages!! READ IT ASAP!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Angieville: NOUGHTS & CROSSES, May 21, 2010

By 

Angela Thompson "Angiegirl" (Rocky Mountains) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black & White (Paperback)

Originally published back in 2001 in the UK, NOUGHTS & CROSSES is the first book in a series by British author Malorie Blackman. I first encountered it as part of the Young Adult Reading Group (YARG) over at Readerville. It was chosen as one of our monthly selections and a dear friend of mine actually picked up copies for several of us while she was in England and mailed them out so we would have time to read them before the discussion. Those were just the kind of people that filled the YARG in those days. Sometimes I miss them all so much it hurts. But my copy came just in time to take it to Italy with me to visit my parents. And I read it while sitting on their terrace watching the waters of the Mediterranean lap the shore below. When I got back, we had a marvelous discussion and pondered as to why it hadn't been published here in the states. It took four more years for it to come out in hardback in the U.S., and I quite like the U.S. cover, even if they did change the spelling of noughts to naughts. A couple of years after that the U.S. paperback was released with a different cover and, strangely, a different title--BLACK & WHITE. Personally, I'm not a fan of the most recent cover or title. Why mess with something as awesome as NOUGHTS & CROSSES? Why talk down to American teenagers just because they might not be aware that in England Tic-Tac-Toe is known as Noughts and Crosses? It's beyond me and I'll hang onto my hardback and UK copies, thank you very much.

Sephy and Callum are best friends. As kids they don't see any problem with a girl from the privileged Cross class playing with a nought boy from the wrong side of town. And their parents let things slide for reasons (or secrets) of their own. But as growing teenagers, Callum particularly is highly aware of the differences in not only their skin tone, but their education, opportunities, and circumstances. Sephy doesn't want anything to change. She wants to go on tutoring Callum in maths, roughhousing with him on the seashore, and crossing her fingers he gets accepted to Heathcroft High and will maybe be in some of her classes. But Callum walks home everyday to his hovel of a dwelling place and watches the hope in his parents' eyes slowly die. He watches his older brother Jude grow angrier and more volatile by the day. And he watches his sister Lynnette draw farther inside of herself, so that even the family can no longer tell how much of her is left anymore. But Callum does get into Heathcroft. And he and Sephy do strive to keep their unsightly friendship alive. And things, both inside and outside of them, grow more and more complicated just as they grow more and more beautiful. Until one day the pressure becomes too much and something happens that threatens to blow the whole fragile relationship into infinitesimal, unrecognizable pieces.

Set in an alternate, present-day England, NOUGHTS & CROSSES explores what the world would look and feel like if the ruling class were black and the oppressed, subservient class white. The two main characters--Sephy and Callum--each belong to one "side" and the crux of the problem arises as they grow up and continue to reach out to each other across enemy lines. I won't lie to you--this dystopian Romeo & Juliet setup worried me in the beginning. I felt like I'd read it before, like it would come off as impossibly melodramatic and tired. But from the very first page it was apparent that such was definitely not the case. As unlikely as it may seem, everything about this story feels new and every passage seems chosen and placed carefully for proper effect as Ms. Blackman swiftly and impressively navigates the deep, gray waters of racism and adolescence amid a stifling society at large. Sephy and Callum are easy to like, their personalities are distinctive and strong, and nothing, repeat nothing is easy. But my emotions were captured instantly and held for the entire, intense and heart-palpitating read.

An early passage that, I think, highlights Callum's desperate situation:

***

We walked into the downstairs room. Lynette and Dad sat on the sofa. Jude sat at the dinner table poring over what looked like a map--not that I was particularly interested. Mum sat down next to Dad and I sat next to Lynette. It was a squash but a cozy squash.

I looked at my sister. "You okay?"

Lynette nodded. Then a slow-burning frown spread out over her face. And that look was back in her eyes. My heart plunged down to my shoes and bounced back up again.

Please, Lynette. Not tonight . . . not now . . .

"Lynny, d'you remember my seventh birthday?" I began desperately. "You took me to see my first film at the cinema. There was just you and me and you got annoyed with me because I wouldn't take my eyes off the screen, not for a second. D'you remember you told me that I could blink because the screen wasn't about to vanish? Lynny . . . ?"

"Why am I here?" My sister's troubled gray eyes narrowed. "I shouldn't be here. I'm not one of you. I"m a Cross."

My stomach lurched, like I was in a lift that had suddenly plunged down at least fifty stories in about five seconds flat. Every time I convinced myself that Lynette was getting better, she'd get that look on her face . . . She'd stare at us like we were all strangers and she'd insist she was one of them.

"What're you talking about? You're a naught," Jude said with scorn. "Look at your skin. You're as white as the rest of us. Whiter."

"No, I'm not."

"Jude, that's enough," said Dad.

"No, it's not. I'm fed up with this. Keeping Lynette in this house so she won't embarrass us by telling everyone she's a Cross. She's barking mad, that's what she is. And Callum's just as bad. He thinks he's better than us and as good as the Crosses, even if he doesn't say it."

"You don't know what you're talking about," I hissed.

"No? I've seen you looking up at this house when you've come back from your dagger friend. I've seen you hating it and hating us and hating yourself because you weren't born one of them," Jude spewed out. "I'm the only one of the three of us who knows what he is and accepts it."

"Now listen here, you brainless--"

Jude sprang out of his chair, but only a couple of seconds before I did.

"Come on then, if you reckon you're hard enough," Jude challenged.

I stepped forward but Dad got between the two of us before I could do little more than clench my fists.

"See?" Lynette's small, puzzled voice rang out as clear as a bell. "I don't behave like that. I can't be a naught. I just can't."

All the fight went out of me. Slowly, I sat back down again.

"Listen, Lynette . . . ," Mum began.

"Look at my skin," Lynette spoke as if Mum hadn't. "Such a beautiful color. So dark and rich and wonderful. I'm lucky. I'm a Cross--closer to God . . ." Lynette looked around at all of us and smiled. A broad, beaming, genuinely happy smile that lit every line and crease on her face and squeezed my heart.

"Stupid cow," Jude muttered.

"That's enough!" Dad shouted at him.

Jude sat, a sullen, brooding look on his face. Lynette looked down at her hands, stroking one over the other. I looked too. All I could see were pale white hands, blue veins clearly visible through the almost translucent skin. She looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back. Forced it really, but at least I tried.

"Don't you think I'm beautiful, Callum?" Lynette whispered.

"Yes," I replied truthfully. "Very."

***

Make no mistake. This book will wring your heart out. You'll need to breathe a few times rather deeply when you're finished and I wouldn't advise winding it up in public. But it's utterly worth it, a not-to-be-missed hidden gem from the wonderful Malorie Blackman.

Reading order: NOUGHTS & CROSSES, AN EYE FOR AN EYE (novella), Knife Edge, Checkmate, Double Cross