Book Review: Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Here we have a salmon salad and peanut butter sandwich (on gluten-free bread). AND Black Brother, Black Brother. How can life get better than this? You may not be brave enough to try my sandwich, but this book is worth tasting.

Black Brother, Black Brother is about biracial siblings who start attending a new school. However, their experiences are very different. Trey is the popular athletic kid but Donte is seen as a problem. What is the most visible difference between the boys? Trey is light colored, like their Norwegian-descended father,  Donte has his African American mom's coloring. 

One bully really makes Donte's life miserable. Alan is the captain of the fencing team and the bain of Donte's existence. Donte decides that the only way out of his mess is to get retribution and decides to beat Alan at his own game - fencing.

In the end notes of this book, Jewell writes that her own biracial children, one with light skin and the other with darker skin, have had very different experiences growing up in the USA. She says, "My grandmother taught me that everyone is a 'mixed-blood stew' and that diversity of appearance (skin color, hair and eye color) are to be celebrated. Everyone is human and everyone carries an ethnic heritage that results from the origins and journeys their ancestors made." 

Reading Black Brother, Black Brother reminds us that we need to celebrate our differences - it is those differences that make our world an interesting place to live. 

You can find this book on the shelf at the Nashua South library.

 

Book Review: Front Lines / Michael Grant

 If you love stories about war or re-imagined history - this might be the book for you. Between the covers of this book you will find the story of three women fighting during WWII after it has been legalized for women to join the military (that is the re-imagined part).  You will meet: Rio who joins up after her sister is killed in the Navy and after telling a boy that she is enlisting, Rainy who is an intelligence officer with little action until there is no other choice, Frangie - a black medic. 

So much of this story is true - the experiences of soldiers in WWII - even the experiences of soldiers today. (Want to know what bootcamp is like? Here you will find out.) The fact that these soldiers are women is outside the realm of fact - but the prejudice and treatment they get are real - and still real in 2021. The treatment of black soldiers in WWII also rings of truth. 

Book Review: We Set the Dark on Fire / Tehlor Kay Mejia

Daniela's parents worked hard to give her all of the opportunities that they didn't have. They traversed the boarder between worlds, they bought papers, and they found a pathway to sneak Daniela into the premier school for women, a school that prepares women to be a wife in a country where the elite have two wives, the Primera (a partner in intellect) and a Segura (a lover and mother). Daniela is the first Primera in her class and is paired with Mateo, a husband planning to run for the presidency. Unfortunately, the Segura is a woman who has bullied her throughout school. 

And married life isn't what she had thought it would be. Mateo is a nasty man intent on keeping those who are privileged rich and those without privilege poor.  Children are starving, many people are without healthcare, and things are not all right in the world. Daniela's secret past results in bribery by a band of rebels who are threatening both herself and her family if she doesn't help them. The rebels want a better world - is it more important for Daniela to honor her family's sacrifices and stay safe, or push against the horrors perpetrated by this government?

This is a story that is set in an imaginary world with an imaginary mythology, but the issues are real and there are so many parallels with our lives in today's world. 
 

Book Review: A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Shirin's parents have moved her family from area to area as they reach for a better lifestyle. After September 11, 2001, Shirin has faced a lot of prejudice and protects herself by creating a barrier with her hijab and her music. But then she is paired with Ocean as a lab partner. Their hearts touch and Ocean begins tugging at those barriers. How can Shirin protect them both? 

If you are a fan of love stories, you may enjoy this book.