Black and White by Eric Walters

I've always loved Eric Walters books.  I love reading them, love recommending them and love watching kids come back for more.  Back in 2009 (holy cow that is a long time ago!), I read Black and White and reviewed it here, my copy of the book has gone missing- hopefully some past student kept it because it was one of their favourite books.  I ordered it again this week to go along with my theme of reading books dealing with racial issues.  I sat down to read it again today.  

Black and White is the story of Thomas and Denyse, both share similar passions of basketball and eating sugar on their popcorn.  They find that they have so many things in common, but the one thing they don't have in common is the colour of their skin, Thomas is white and Denyse is black.  For them, this doesn't matter, but their families are concerned about how difficult it will be for them to be in a relationship because of what others will think.  Both Thomas and Denyse are confronted with people who take issue with their relationship and have to figure out how to deal with the anger that is thrown their way when people see them together.

I'm really glad I reread this book today.  I can see a lot of my kids enjoying this story with all of the complexities in it.  Thomas is a boy who reminds me so much of the kids at school, loving basketball, unsure of how to be around girls and navigating challenges that are thrown at them.  It was interesting reading this 11 years after it was published, I'm not sure how much has changed and that is something that I will be able to talk to kids about when they borrow this book from me next year.