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Jewell Parker Rhodes

Black Brother, Black Brother Paperback – March 30, 2021

by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Author)

965 ratings

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From award-winning and bestselling author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a powerful coming-of-age story about two brothers, one who presents as white, the other as black, and the complex ways in which they are forced to navigate the world, all while training for a fencing competition -- now in paperback!
Framed. Bullied. Disliked. But I know I can still be the best.

Sometimes, 12-year-old Donte wishes he were invisible. As one of the few black boys at Middlefield Prep, most of the students don't look like him. They don't like him either. Dubbing him "Black Brother," Donte's teachers and classmates make it clear they wish he were more like his lighter-skinned brother, Trey.

When he's bullied and framed by the captain of the fencing team, "King" Alan, he's suspended from school and arrested for something he didn't do.

Terrified, searching for a place where he belongs, Donte joins a local youth center and meets former Olympic fencer Arden Jones. With Arden's help, he begins training as a competitive fencer, setting his sights on taking down the fencing team captain, no matter what.

As Donte hones his fencing skills and grows closer to achieving his goal, he learns the fight for justice is far from over. Now Donte must confront his bullies, racism, and the corrupt systems of power that led to his arrest.

Powerful and emotionally gripping, Black Brother, Black Brother is a careful examination of the school-to-prison pipeline and follows one boy's fight against racism and his empowering path to finding his voice.

Reading age

10+ years, from customers
Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Grade level

3 - 7
Lexile measure

HL400L
Dimensions

5.3 x 1 x 7.6 inches
Publisher

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date

March 30, 2021
ISBN-10

0316493791
ISBN-13

978-0316493796
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From the Publisher


	Paradise on Fire	Ghost Boys	Towers Falling	Bayou Magic	Sugar	Ninth Ward
Discover more inspiring reads from Jewell Parker Rhodes!	A timely coming-of-age survival tale exploring issues of race, class, and climate change.	A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history.	A powerful novel set fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks in a classroom of students who cannot remember the event but live through the aftermath.	A magical coming-of-age story, rich with Southern folklore, friendship, family, fireflies and mermaids, plus an environmental twist.	A tale of a strong, spirited young girl who rises beyond her circumstances and inspires others to work toward a brighter future.	A heartbreaking and uplifting tale of survival in the face of Hurricane Katrina.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Black Brother, Black Brother

*"A powerful work and must-have for children's collections."―Booklist, starred review

"Placing biracial boyhood and the struggles of colorism at its center, the novel challenges readers to pursue their own self-definition."―Kirkus

*"An excellent selection for both elementary and middle library collections, this is a title that celebrates finding one's place in the world."―School Library Connection, starred review

"Donte's story is a good primer for younger readers on microaggressions."―School Library Journal

"A classic sports story."―BCCB

"This novel offers a solid story, with relatable, three-dimensional characters considering identity, that will teach readers about colorism's effects."
―Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Jewell Parker Rhodes is the author of Ninth Ward, winner of a Coretta Scott King Honor, Sugar, winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, and the New York Times-bestselling Ghost Boys, and Black Brother, Black Brother. She has also written many award-winning novels for adults. When she's not writing, Jewell visits schools to talk about her books and teaches writing at Arizona State University.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (March 30, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316493791
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316493796
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ HL400L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 3 - 7
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.3 x 1 x 7.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #16,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #50 in Children's Books on Prejudice & Racism
- #70 in Children's Books on Boys' & Men's Issues
- #94 in Children's Black & African American Story Books

Customer Reviews:
965 ratings

About the author

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Jewell Parker Rhodes

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http://www.jewellparkerrhodes.com

Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author and educator for both youth and adults. She is the author of seven books for children including the New York Times bestsellers Ghost Boys and Black Brother, Black Brother, both named Amazon’s Best Children’s Books of the Year. Her other books include Paradise on Fire, Towers Falling, and the Louisiana Girls Trilogy: Ninth Ward, Sugar, and Bayou Magic.

Jewell is the author of six adult novels: Voodoo Dreams, Magic City, Douglass’ Women, Season, Moon, and Hurricane, as well as the memoir Porch Stories: A Grandmother’s Guide to Happiness, and two writing guides, Free Within Ourselves: Fiction Lessons for Black Authors and The African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Non-Fiction.

Jewell has won the American Book Award, the Black Caucus of the American Library Award for Literary Excellence, and the Jane Addams Peace Association Book Award.

Jewell regularly visits schools, a speaker at colleges and conferences. The driving force behind all of her work is to inspire social justice, equity, and environmental stewardship.

Jewell is the Founding Artistic Director and Piper Endowed Chair at the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Carnegie-Mellon University. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she currently lives in Seattle.

Customer reviews

5 star		84%
4 star		10%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Clea

It starts the conversation with pre-teens/teens about race. Highly recommend

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

I ordered three books for my 12-year old son. I wanted to start the conversation about race and privilege but wasn’t sure how. We ordered three books and this was the first one. He loved it even though it was challenging, but he is beginning to acknowledge his perspective is vastly different, and that knowing that his friends and peers will experience circumstances differently than him is helping him understand what’s happening in our community. I highly recommend this book.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dog Dad and Mum

Not her best, but an ok read

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2021

Verified Purchase

I decided to read this YA novel after enjoying her book titled Ghost Boys (which was amazing). The premise of this story is that there are 2 brothers who are mixed - Black and white. One can pass for white, while the other one is labeled (seen) as Black. Their treatment in their private prep school is different, as the darker brother experiences more racism and they both experience classism.

The darker brother named Donte is the protagonist and he learns to fence to challenge the elite boys who treat him so badly. He learns fencing at an urban Boys and Girls club and of course, meets his prep school bullies in a match.

It is sprinkled with truths of racism that occurS today and hints at the “school trouble to incarceration path.” I’m not sure young readers will get the messages as they are so minimized in the long-winded details of fencing.

The book is ok - quick read - less than 5.5 hours but the last 1/3 of it really dragged. I’ll continue to support this author and seek her other works, but this one is not a great work.

Almost no violence, no sex, not much bad language (If any) and the racism and bullying are very downplayed. In my opinion, suitable for any age/grade who can read chapter books.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Rachel Williams

Excellent fiction story addressing serious, real life issues

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2021

Verified Purchase

Excellent look at colorism and prejudice framed in a way that younger students can understand and identify with. Younger children being late elementary, early middle school age. It does not sugar coat or downplay real issues while still making it digestible and not overwhelming. The story is about two brothers and while the colorism aspect of two skin tones is clear throughout, the author also shows relatable sibling conflicts like athletic ability, grades, and connectivity with parents. A solid read for parents and their children of all races or for use in a middle school classroom.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Alvina G

Black and White

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2020

Verified Purchase

Donte is seen as a troublemaker because he's black. Trey is the sports good kid because he's white. They're brothers. Blood brothers. One taking after their mom. The other after his dad. When Donte finds his place in fencing, he's finally found what can break the negative outlook on him, that's only there, because he's black, in an all white school. This was a good book.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

KMac

Excellent book!

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book was so good. I have been reading my kids book to ensure they are age-appropriate. This is a book for all ages. Bought this as my son needs to be able to see himself as the character in books. Representation matters. This book hit the mark and beyond. It really is for all children and ethnicities to learn the impact that how we treat others really does matter. Words can impact us for a lifetime and we should be teaching kindness and inclusion.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Erika

Watered Down

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book is described as “a careful examination of the school-to-prison pipeline”. While it does touch on the subject, it definitely didn’t come off as a careful examination. It was dumbed down a lot as if the target audience is first graders. It read like a cheesy after school special. It felt preachy throughout much of the book. The plot seemed interesting, but the execution didn’t work for me.

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

Another great story by Jewel Parker Rhodes, exploring racism (and colorism), economic privilege, and fencing. I will be reading “The Black Count” along with “The Count of Monte Cristo “!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Kelly

I loved this.

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2021

Verified Purchase

I really enjoy reading Parker-Rhodes books and the way she discusses the heavy topic of racism through the innocent lens of a child. As a fellow writer and avid reader, I admire her character progression and story telling abilities.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Grace M.

Excellent Book!

Reviewed in Canada on December 12, 2020

Verified Purchase

Black Brother, Black Brother is a well written book that speaks about systemic racism. It gives voice to teens who experience disenfranchisement and empowers them to find ways to overcome this very real struggle. The book can also encourage others who are outside looking in, to look inwards to question the role they play to perpetuate this problem. I highly recommend this book to everyone especially to teachers to include in their social justice curriculum.

I Read, Therefore I Blog

Powerful indictment of racism and privilege for children aged 9+

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2021

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

Donte Ellison spent most of his childhood in New York with his older brother Trey, his mum (a civil rights lawyer at the Legal Aid Society) and dad (a computer architect). When his mum got a job in Boston, the whole family moved to a suburb outside the city and Donte and Trey started school at Middlefield Prep. That’s where Donte’s problems started. Although his brother, Trey, is hugely popular and plays on the school basketball team, Donte doesn’t have any friends, isn’t good at sports (preferring computer games and reading his dad’s old SF novels) and from day one was bullied by Alan Davies, the captain of the school’s champion fencing team.

Alan is not subtle about why he’s targeting Donte: Donte is one of the few black students in what is a school populated by white, wealthy and very privileged students and so stands out. More than that though, is the fact that while Donte is dark skinned, Trey passes for white. Alan likes to shout “Black brother, black brother” at Donte as a way of drawing attention to his race and how different he is to Trey. Worse, the school turns a blind eye to the bullying, choosing to blame Donte for the cruel tricks played on him and around him and resulting in the teachers regarding him as a troublemaker.

Everything comes to a head when Donte is mistakenly blamed after Alan throws a pencil at a student. Sent once again to the Principal’s office this time, under the weight of the unfair accusations and micro aggressions (including comparisons to the light skinned Trey), Donte snaps and throws his back back into a chair. The next thing he knows, the Principal has phoned the police and Donte is being put in a police car on a charge of delinquency - all to Alan’s delight.

As Donte’s mother decides to file a civil law suit against the school, Donte tries to work out how to get back at Alan, how to make him see him as a human and not just as someone who is black. When Trey finds an article about Arden Jones, a black man who fenced for the USA in the 1976 Olympics, he realises that he can literally take on Alan at his own game. Jones now works as a manager for a boys and girls club in Boston and so Donte tracks him down, to try and persuade him to teach him how to fence but doing so starts him on a journey that teaches him so much more than how to fight and get revenge; it teaches him how to rise above and tackle a world that only sees his colour …

Jewell Parker Rhodes’s contemporary novel about racism for children aged 9+ is a blazing indictment of the unfairness of racism and the role that privilege and wealth play in producing unequal outcomes for black children compared with white children. The plot has shades of THE KARATE KID, the scene cuts are a little jumpy and Trey and Donte’s relationship needed more tension but this is a strong and sadly necessary read that is worth your time.

I picked this up having been impressed by Rhodes’s previous children’s novel GHOST BOYS, which also looked at racism in terms of police violence against black youths and the murder of Emmett Till. Here Rhodes’s focus is on the schools-to-prison pipeline and how educational establishments (aided by the police) disproportionately target black students as being disruptive or delinquents. Certainly as a Brit, it is horrifying to learn that a moment of bad behaviour in a school can lead a child to being arrested and taken away in handcuffs and labelled a delinquent with a juvenile criminal record. Rhodes then goes further to cleverly set out how Donte’s own privilege - as the child of wealthy parents who have brought him up to speak properly and respectfully and dress smartly - is of some assistance to him, especially the fact that he has a white father, with whom the police and judiciary react more favourably than his black mother. It’s a damning indictment of modern American society, made more effective by the way that Rhodes successfully conveys Donte’s emotional reaction to it - the confusion and upset and fear and anger.

Also good is how Rhodes shows the relationship between Donte and Trey and how while Donte loves his brother, he also resents how Trey’s lighter skin also makes it easier for him to assimilate and be accepted by the other students. The scenes where he initially bristles at Trey’s decision to try out for fencing because that’s Donte’s thing rang true and I have to say that I would have liked a bit more of that grit in their relationship purely because at times it’s a little too idealised in terms of their support for each other. For example, Trey’s initial assumption that Donte must have done something wrong to be arrested could have been teased out more than it is and I would have been interested in a scene between Donte’s mum and dad about the fact that the police are more deferential to a 6’4” white man than they are to a black woman who’s actually a lawyer. (That said, I should stress that I completely respect the choice not to focus on this because it is good to read a book about a supportive bi-racial family and it does mean the book focuses on Donte and his reactions to what’s happening).

The fencing element to the story reminded me a lot of THE KARATE KID, although I should say that Rhodes makes the story her own. I enjoyed the relationship between Donte and Arden Jones and how in learning how to fence Donte learns about himself and how to deal with the awful system he lives in. I think it’s a particularly clever decision of Rhodes to pick fencing as the central sport here because it does have an image as a white, European and privileged sport so to make clear how many people of colour have fenced for the USA in its Olympic team is a smart point to make and also because Rhodes shows how it can be democratised by bringing it to a poorer neighbourhood where black kids can be given the opportunity to learn.

Rhodes is an incredibly impressive writer when it comes to writing about racism and while I hate that books like this have to be written, she does a really good job at showing the emotional impact of it on Donte and how it makes him feel about himself. The clever decision she makes here to show how the wealth of Donte’s family can buy him a better outcome than poorer black children placed in the same position (and also how Donte is smart enough to realise this) brings home the intersectionality between privilege and race but also critically points out that just because a black child has a wealthy family doesn’t mean he’s going to be treated as fairly as a white child in the same situation.

Ultimately (and despite my criticisms) this is a powerful book that is well worth your time and is definitely worth a read.

Jojomaman

A must read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2021

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

This is a book that I think should be on every year 6 bookshelf! Black Brother, Black Brother is a powerful and compelling book about social injustice and inequality in a private prep school. And the characters are well placed to judge the racism that they face day after day as Donte is black and his older brother Trey is much lighter in skin tone. Their mother is black and their father white and it becomes obvious very early on that Donte sees the different ways his parents are treated in society-his mother may be a lawyer but her husband is the one that is deemed the one to talk to when Donte is arrested for something that he hasn’t done. The author is well placed to write about this inequality due to her own family situation and she does so in a very calm manner using Donte and his talent for fencing-which seen as a predominately white and upper class sport.
I absolutely loved reading this to the 10 year old and it led to lots of discussion about race, justice and doing the right thing.

catsholiday

A story about racial prejudice and bullying

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2021

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

This was a well written book. It is aimed at the YA market so the writing reflects that.

Two brothers one black, one almost white with a white father and a black mother. Mother is a lawyer and the boys have recently moved to a new school which is a private one - mainly white middle-class children - many from very wealthy families.

The one brother is accepted and has no issues while poor Donte is not accepted or liked by pupils or staff. He is falsely accused of something in the classroom and is sent to the head teacher, while verbally defending himself Donte becomes in a worse situation and the police are called and he is arrested. He was not violent or aggressive in any way !!

He decides he is going to prove himself and begins to learn fencing from a former black Olympic fencer who was removed from the Olympic fencing team for some misdemeanor we learn about in the book.

It is a book that shows that good can triumph over evil and that the bullies don't always win!

J&Co

A great book with lear line of suggestions

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2021

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

I loved every bit of it. Every bit but one - yet again, it seems like the field of discrimination is being privatised by people who are not Caucasian. This is wrong. It is being DIFFERENT that matters, being a 'newcomer', speaking a different language at home and standing out in a crowd. If this is acknowledged, the battle can be won. Otherwise, it is just politicising the whole concept of discrimination, making a huge community feel more vulnerable than so many other individuals who do not even have a community to seek protection from, and using it against many innocent people and not for all who need protection. There. Authors, listen!
But I lived every bit of this book nonetheless. It is not a book of hatred and fight instigation. It is a book of rising and soaring, of finding one's strength within (and yet showing that a battle cannot be won when one is alone). A cozy book despite it challenging a huge issue. A good, easy read.

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