Black and White [Hardcover]

Paul Volponi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 2005

Marcus and Eddie are best friends. They're also stars on the basketball court, where they're known as Black and White. Race has never been an issue: Marcus is black, Eddie is white, but it doesn't matter. Until they start to pull stickups for extra pocket cash and the gun they're using goes off. Now Marcus is going to jail and Eddie is going to college, even though Eddie is the one who fired the gun.

Told in their two voices, Black and White is the gripping story of two good boys who make a bad mistake. It's also a heart-breaking look at the realities of the urban criminal justice system. Written with passion and uncanny authenticity, this is Paul Volponi's debut young adult novel.

Editorial Reviews

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
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"The plotting is tight, the action is swift, and the troubling outcome that finds Marcus headed to Prison and Eddie off to college is, sadly all too believable." -Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

"Using authentic voices that will draw in both strong and reluctant readers, Volponi writes a taut novel, avoiding didactism and deftly balancing the 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." -Booklist, starred review

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (May 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670060062
• ISBN-13: 978-0670060061
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #534,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great new YA book, January 28, 2006

By 

High school teacher (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black and White (Hardcover)

As a high school librarian I'm always on the look out for exemplary new titles for young adults, particularly for boys. Black & White is one I'll be sharing a lot this year. Marcus and Eddie are best friends and a force to be reckoned with on the basketball court. Theirs is a story of racial prejudice, character, friendship, taking responsibility, and fairness. There's a bit of romance in it, too. There is much here for kids to talk about and the book is sure to spark discussion. While the ending is hopeful, it certainly isn't tidy or predictable.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding read for every teen, January 15, 2007

By 

C. Van Hook "Iowa Teacher Librarian" (Altoona, Iowa USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black and White (Hardcover)

Here's another book, I wanted to read more...more...more! What great messages the author delivered in the story. Volponi speaks of "black and white" issues, but he also goes deep into the human soul and gives guidance on how to live a content, happy life. This book could be a self-help book on dealing with the "big and small" mistakes made in life, change, stress, and growing up!

As a high school teacher-librarian, I will certainly recommend _Black and White_ to my teen readers as a fabulous read.

There are numerous quotes I admire, but my favorite is: [school office speaking to Marcus mother] "I know he's made some mistakes. But that's what adolescents do. Marcus is the type of young man who's going to learn from what he did wrong. He's going to pick himself back up and succeed. And one day, other kids from this neighborhood are going to look up to him for that." p. 131

The book is open-ended at the end. But that's okay and will leave the reader content. There will be ups and downs after the final page and much food for thought in the reader's imagination.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Reality Check For Two Young Stars, May 22, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Black and White (Hardcover)

This is a magnificent story, it begin with Eddie Russo (White) and Marcus Brown (Black) running back to their house after they shot Sidney Parker a person they were trying to mug. They were mugging people with White's grandfather .38 caliber and they had robbed two people and accidentally shot the third guy. Then as the story progresses we find out that they had to pay their high school dues and they had their money saved up. However some new Nikes came out and everyone on the team was getting them, the two best stars couldn't be seen without them, could they? They weren't out of style, but they were out of money and desperately needed some money. So then White said "We could rob a few people to get the money and what we get we probably deserved." In the end Black is taking the heat for the chime and white seems like he's going to get off scot-free.
I believe all people of every race can and will like this book. I also believe it will effect the Blacks and White the most. It will touch everyone and give us a reality check on what the world is really like, not the fantasy everybody believes it is. My favorite part was when Black finally got hooked up with Rose (White's little sister). I believe anyone that likes basketball will also like, as basketball has an important role in this book. My question to you the reader is can people of different races really and truly get along? That's for you to decide for yourself, after you read the book.