Customer Reviews

Black and White

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I know plenty of present and former middle school kids who are so totally over that racial division stuff that they study about in American history and in my wife's English classes, and that people of my generation witnessed and are always telling them about.

Of course, these are all white kids living in an affluent community in the coastal hills of Northern California. Some of them have actually gotten to play in soccer leagues or on school basketball teams against more racially diverse teams in Santa Rosa and elsewhere. But I figure our tenth grader got better acquainted with more Japanese kids over her two week middle school exchange visit to their country than she has gotten to know of black kids in her entire life.

Since reading and reviewing it over the holidays, I've been dying to put together a production of Julius Lester's new, soon-to-be-award winning novel in narrative, DAY OF TEARS, but I know that casting it would probably require more young black talent than we have in Shari's middle school and the nearby high school put together.

Now, "Black and White" have seriously gotten over that race thing for real. They've lived it. Marcus Brown is a black kid from the Projects who lives with his mom and preschool-aged sister. Eddie Russo, the white son of a sanitation worker, lives across town with his parents and teenaged, younger sister Rose. Marcus and Eddie are always together as they have been forever. Ages ago they were nicknamed "Black and White", and it has stuck. They're both starting guards on a Long Island City high school basketball team that is cruising toward the playoffs. College scouts come sit in the bleachers, watch them, and salivate. But that was before IT happened.

"BLACK

"I admit it. I've been scared sh------ lots of times. But I was never as shook as when the gun in Eddie's hand went off. It thundered inside that car like the whole world was coming to an end. I never expected Eddie to pull the trigger, by accident or any other way. I guess that was a big part of it too. In all the time Eddie had that gun, we never shot it off once. It was just for show, so we could get our hands on some quick money. That's all. We never flashed it around in front of our friends or anything. It was just for us to know about.
"I was more scared for that man we shot than anything else. I didn't even know he got clipped in the head until Eddie told me later. The gun went off and I closed my eyes. I shut them so tight, I thought my eyelids would squeeze them right out of their sockets. I only opened them again to find the handle on the door, so I could get out of that car and take off running.
"That damn sound was ringing in my ears. There was no way to outrun that. I couldn't hear the air pumping in and out of my lungs, or the sound of my feet hitting against the concrete. And I didn't know that Eddie wasn't right behind me until I was halfway home, and peeked back over my shoulder. Then I looked back for him again, even though I knew he wasn't there."

So what will happen when the shooting victim ID?s Marcus from yearbook photos? What happens when Marcus comes to face a system of justice that feels like it's based on skin color and the ability to hire an attorney? What happens when Marcus's mom and Eddies parents each stop feeling supportive of their own son's friend-of-another-color? Where does the Black and White friendship go from here?

Author Paul Volponi spent years with adolescents on Rikers Island, teaching them reading and writing. He?s written one heck of a tale about two friends who thought they were cruising in the fast lane, heading for NCAA glory, and thought that differences in skin color was somebody else's problem.

Through this nail-biting story that keeps us waiting to see who is going to to pay the price for the two kids making a bad mistake, BLACK AND WHITE goes beyond the skin deep to reveal some harsh impulses and invisible walls that still exist in America today.

When I first picked this book from the library I had two minutes left to pick a book. So, I look on a shelf this was the first book I caught on my eye. When we came back to school I didn't want to read it but once I past that first page I really wanted to read it, because it talks about the issues in my life. Such as, how I would get in trouble because I would pick pocket people.
They shot the guy for a reason. Maracas and Eddie know, as black and white on the streets are about to get a scholarship to a basketball school. They don't have any jobs so they can pay for the basketball camp for they can get accepted to the school, so they started robbing people's cars when they will go in the hardware store. Until one day a guy saw them robbing his car so he ran over there and Eddie pulled out his gun and shot the person. Maracas knew who the person was but just couldn't figure it out at the time. One day when Eddie's family comes over and they are taking the bus then Maracas knew who it was, it was... The next day when they went to school the cops come and arrest them for murder.
I think this book is awesome I recommend this book because it has action cover to cover. My favorite part was when they found out that they had killed the guy, but Eddie's family is on the bus, I like this part because it is intense because you want to know who the person was. I like this book so much I read it 3 times because it relates to the issues in my life. This book says that if you don't have a job than go do things like selling drugs or robbing people and when you do that you go to jail.
I think Paul Volponi is one of the best authors in the world, because he knows how to catch his reader's interest. Also, he doesn't wait to the middle of the book to give you the action part he gives it to you on the second page. I think Paul Volponi does that for he won't boar his readers. It is a really good book for teens.

"Marcs and Eddie are the stars of Long Island City High School's basketball team. Marcs is black and Eddie is white, but they got past all that "racial crap" and have been best friends for years." Quote from Black and White

Marcs and Eddie are going make it to the NBA. Everyone knows it. They have scouts coming to their games to see them play. Both know it will only be a matter of time before they get their big scholarships and then they can go to the pros.

The problem is both boys are from the inner city and have little money. They could work but that would interfere with their practices and games. So, they decide to make some quick cash. Everything is fine until one night when things go horribly wrong. Now one will have to pay for their mistake.

This is an excellent novel that I cannot keep on the shelf. My students love this book. Mr. Volponi does an excellent job of portraying the struggle these young men face. The ending shocked me and when I finished reading the book I couldn't believe what happened. Amazing read. Boys who are into basketball will especially like this novel. However, I think boys and girls who want a solid story with realistic characters will enjoy this book.

Paul Volponi has written two other young adult novels including Rooftop and Rucker Park Setup. His first novel was Rikers, which could appeal to teens due to its topic.

I was really pulled in by this book and found it a page turner. It's got more than racial themes in it. It's also the story of friendship between boys, it's strengths and limits. Additionally, it's also the story of teenagers making poor choices and suffering the consequences of their actions.

You have two friends who are of different races, Eddie and Marcus, but they have pulled together and are tight friends through high school. Then, they both resent not having enough money for various things, and since the are both great basketball players and practices interfere with work, they decide to do some armed robbery to get some extra cash. They only do three hold ups, but things go wrong, and a gun is fired, and Marcus, the black friend gets arrested.

Eventually, Eddie is also arrested, and he was the one who shot the gun. The rest of the book circles around Marcus, and if he will turn is his friend or not since the police don't have enough evidence about the trigger man.

All of this is well written and fast paced. There is also a little romance between Rose, Eddie's sister, and Marcus.

What I feel keeps this book from being a great book, is the ending, which I will not reveal. I will only write that I think the ending keeps the character of Eddie from fully developing, and maybe that's more true to reality as he is only 17.

As a book of harsh, realistic fiction, I think this book has it nailed!

As a book of lasting, enduring literature, I think this book will be mostly forgotten in ten years and I fault the ending and the editor for letting that happen, because I feel this could have been at least better and a much more meaningful and enduring story.

That said, I do recommend this book and think it would give teen and adults a lot to discuss on a wide variety of themes such as friendship, race, honesty, and the US Judicial system.

My Book is Black and White. I give this book 5 stars. This book is about 2 seventeen year olds Eddie and Marcus. They are the stars of the Long island High school. So Eddie and Marcus for graduation have to come up with $150.00 dollars to go to their field trip to Bear Mountain and to six flags, so they save the money and find out that Nike had come out with new b-ball shoes so they buy the shoes. They have no money left so they start to rob people and one night something bad happens. Eddie accidentally pulled the trigger on the gun and shot a man. I think that people that like basketball and how people's lives are changed in an instant. Plus I think that the author captured me because it starts a lot faster than most books.

Volponi, in my opinion, is THE urban YA writer to read. His books should be on every high school reading list. BLACK AND WHITE is one more book by Volponi that depicts the reality facing urban American youth and the justice system. The title refers to his main characters, teammates and best friends who are basketball stars at their high school. Their nicknames are Black and White, which not only represents the color of their skin, but the close connection they have together - one is not without the other. They could be the kids next door, feeling invincible and making choices that will impact them for the rest of their lives. On a deeper level, these characters also represent the racial divide between black and white. This is a gripping, powerful tale reminding us to keep our eyes open to reality, to hold our judgments, and to recognize that injustice prevails, even when two young men are guilty of a crime

BLACK AND WHITE explores the best friendship between a black and white student in New York City. In particular, the novel focuses on how the relationship is tested by a crime the two commit together. When the black student is nabbed for his part in this stick-up gone wrong but the white student is only suspected, then protected by a lawyer his family can explore, author Volponi mixes in issues of race and how skin color and economic advantages can drive the justice system of our country. With its share of profanity, the book is edgy, but the overall message is meaningful and soundly moral. That, in the end, is what counts most, and the back and forth POV chapters will captivate readers from Grades 8/9 on up as they read to see how and if the friendship survives the trial and verdict. Bonus? It's a sports book, too, as the boys are the two stars of their high school teams and each is under the interested eye of scouts from colleges like St. John's and UConn. Together, the themes of friendship, crime, justice, and sports make for an irresistible story.