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

Donte and his older brother Trey have just moved to a new small town and are attending a prestigious private school, but Donte doesn't look like the other students, including his brother. He has dark skin while his brother has light skin. Their teachers and the other students treat them differently just because of the color of their skin. In fact, Donte's teacher sends him to the office for something another student had done and when Donte gets angry that no one believes him, he slams his book bag down. The principal calls the police on him (!) and he gets taken away. He plots his revenge against the student that put him in that position and wants to humiliate him in the one thing he cares about - fencing. Alan is the star of the school's fencing team, so Donte heads to the local community center where a former Olympic fencing star happens to work and takes Donte on as a student. I think this novel tried to hit some nerves with its look at how people are looked at simply from the color of their skin, but I did not like how there wasn't blowback to the school officials for having a student arrested and not even contacting his parents first. What? I work in a public school and that would never fly in my school! But, I love Jewell Parker Rhodes's books and the work she is putting in getting students of color and the issues they face into the forefront of children's literature.

Mrs. Denney's Rating: ***

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