BLACK BROTHER, BLACK BROTHER written by the highly- praised author Jewel Parker Rhodes is a powerful middle grade novel about racism as told by twelve year- old student Donte Ellison. He and his brother Trey have biracial parents. Trey looks like his white father, a computer architect, whereas Donte looks like his black mother, a social justice lawyer. The brothers are very close. However, Donte is not accepted by the students or the administration of Middlefield Prep.
The story begins when Alan, the captain of the fencing team who has taken a vicious dislike to Donte, throws a pencil in class. The teacher all too quickly accuses Donte of the act. When Donte tries to defend himself and sees that as usual no-one is listening, he throws his bookbag on the floor in desperation. The police are called, he is handcuffed, taken to a police car in front of the whole school, driven to a satellite station and put in a cell!
The use of a first-person storyteller is brilliant and gives the reader a powerful doorway into Donte’s pain. The author allows us to feel his anger and hurt. “I stare at my hands. Nighttime dark. They have a life of their own. Clenching, unclenching. Fist then no fist.” He solves his problem about how to take Alan down by taking fencing lessons with a former Olympic fencer who works at a nearby community sports club. He gets Donte ready to beat Alan in a breathtaking fencing match. Every lunge, parry, counterattack and hit is thrilling!
BLACK BROTHER, BLACK BROTHER written by Jewell Parker Rhodes is a must-read novel for readers 8-12 years of age (Little, Brown and Company, 2020).
Activity Questions for BLACK BROTHER, BLACK BROTHER
This novel, written in first person, allows the reader to really feel Donte’s anger and hurt. Reread the opening pages where Donte describes his hands. Can you feel the tension in his hands? Go ahead, clench your hands into a fist and then release your fist. How does this tension and then release feel to you? How does this tension and release help Donte cope with the disrespect directed toward him at Middlefield Prep?
When Donte wins the fencing match Alan reluctantly congratulates him. What does Donte mean when he says to the reader, “He can even dislike me if he wants. But now he has to see ME.” Write a paragraph explaining that remark.
Look at the drawing of fencing champion Donte on the last page of the novel which shows him raising his foil in triumph. Give this picture a title.
