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Juvenile Fiction. Juvenile Literature. HTML: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.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. 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.… (more)
User reviews
Donte wants to be seen for who he is, a nonviolent, friendly person, who just wants to belong. He decides to try the sport of fencing. His coach is amazing and teaches Donte the sport, but also guides him in his navigation of growing up black.
Although a fictional story, coaches truly do impact more than improvement in the sport, but also coaching with life lessons. Shout out to coaches as friends, fellow teachers, my past students who coach now will tell you, as they have shared, coaching is about the sport, but also coaching them in life. Donte’s coach impacts his life with tools he would need throughout life.
Younger brother, Donte faces both bullying, racism and disregard from students and staff.
The novel is juvenile fiction, but
I enjoyed the journey in this title, especially how the sport of fencing was explained and woven into Donte's growth. Lots of positive support from coach, parents and big brother Trey.
But I felt the ending was just a bit quick and wanted a bit more resolution in holding the bully and staff more responsible for their prior actions.
Donte and Trey are brothers of mixed parents. Trey's skin color reflects his father's white tones while Donte's color mimics his mother's black heritage. His successful
Jail. Donte is scared. His lawyer mom is scared. She knows that her son Donte has a greater chance of being misjudged than her other son because of his color. He's quickly released, but this event scars Donte. He fears--the world, his future court date, returning to school after suspension, the future. He doesn't know where he fits in. He sees the bias and has no control. His anger wants to surface. He wants revenge. He decides he will learn to fence because that's where Alan finds his strength and power--he's the best. Donte fails at anything athletic; he decides it's a dumb idea. His brother, however, gives him an article. Donte ends up going for a walk.
He goes into the city and finds Arden Jones, a former black fencer who participated in the Olympics. Thankfully, his path to revenge becomes a path to healing. Donte, a natural talent, trains to fence. I love that the entire family joins in. Trey, the family athlete, joins to help get Donte in shape, and his mom and dad provide equipment to the Boys and Girls Club while also being there physically to watch and help. Donte's path becomes one of finding himself and finding how to exist in a world of Alans using the ideas of fencing as his guide.
Jewell Parker Rhodes also wrote Ghost Boys. This novel will sit next to Ghost Boys as a novel you learned from and recommended to others. It will also make you remember there are over 400 skin colors, not two.
Parts of this were so (unfortunately) real and many kids of color will sadly be able to relate. A good book to encourage discussion among middlegrade students.