Black Brother, Black Brother

Written by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Narrated by Barrie Buckner

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 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Mar 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781549102202

Jewell Parker Rhodes

Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes 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 Nonfiction. Jewell is also the author of seven books for youth, including the New York Times bestsellers Ghost Boys and Black Brother, Black Brother. She 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 is the founding artistic director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and narrative studies professor and Virginia G. Piper endowed chair at Arizona State University. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Carnegie-Mellon University. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

[yarncatsnbooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A young adult book, but very powerful. Does a good job making you see all the ways microagressions and outright discrimination affect all of us, but especially bipoc youth.

[jennybeast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gorgeous, and I'm not just saying that as an avid fencer who hardly ever gets to see fencing in print. Gorgeous family dynamics, gorgeous characters, gorgeous thinking about race and writing about identity. I've been a fan of Dr. Parker Rhodes' work for years, but this one just hits it out of the park for me.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Donte is always in trouble at school even though he is a good kid and he's had enough of it. He and his brother are biracial, as the brother with much darker skin he sees the ways that he is treated differently (especially at their new private school). When he is arrested at school, he's shocked and he realizes that something has to change. He decides he needs revenge on his main tormentor and makes the decision to do this at what matters most to Alan, fencing. During his suspension from school he connects with a coach. He puts in a lot of hard work, becomes part of his team's community, and things (including his motivation) begin to shift within him. The family relationships depicted in this book group Donte in incredible support. His growing awareness of how other Black kids are treated by systems that don't care for them is eye opening. This book covers a lot of ground in such a short piece, but it works and works well.

[beth.clarke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After Ghost Boys, I expected this to be superb, and it was good. It was captivating. I just liked Ghost Boys more. Golden Sower nominee 2021-22.

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(audiobook) diverse children's middlegrade fiction--social justice, racism, fencing
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.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A 2021 Lone Star novel, Black Brother, Black Brother, teaches "courage, honor, integrity, and chivalry" (189) in the midst of bias.

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 parents move them to a place his lawyer mother feels she can make a difference in helping others. Like all parents, they want their kids to attend a "good" school--good academics helps with a good career later. Their new school is Middlefield Prep, which is not the most diverse place. Immediately, the racist, ignorant, white bully, Alan, targets Donte. This treatment unsettles Donte and he doesn't understand why he's been called to the office so many times when he's done nothing. Out of anger he finally slams his backpack to the floor. The police are called. He's arrested. Why? A pencil was thrown at a girl. He's black, so he must have done it. Yep--now he's arrested.

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.

[deslivres5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two multi-racial brothers, Donte and Trey, move with their parents to MA from NYC and have different experience in their new prep school based on their varying skin colors.
Younger brother, Donte faces both bullying, racism and disregard from students and staff.

The novel is juvenile fiction, but there are themes about harrowing racial injustice which might need some explanation/hand-holding for the younger set in this group. Important discussions about school-to-prison pipeline, systemic racism, BLM and bullying are woven in.

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.

[sgrame_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Donte Ellison's biracial family leaves New York City where he grew up and moves to upscale Newton, Massachusetts, he meets racism head-on. Enrolled in Middlefield Prep School, his light-skinned brother fits in fine, but dark-skinned Donte faces bullying from the captain of the fencing team and several of his followers and a cold shoulder from staff. He is falsely accused of throwing a pencil at a girl and when the principal doesn't listen to his side of the story, he slams down his backpack in frustration which leads to instant arrest and juvenile court. Donte decides he has to fight Allan on his own turf. When Donte's brother Trey discovers Arden Jones, a black former fencer from the Olympic team works at the local Boys and Girls Club in their city, Donte reaches out to him for training. Arden sees something of his earlier self in Donte and works with him and his brother, along with another set of siblings. This book holds attraction for those who liked Jason Reynolds Track series as well as those interested in the theme of racism. Grades 4-6.

[lflareads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Donte and Trey are brothers. Donte has dark skin and Trey light skin. Why do they navigate the world differently? One feeling invisible most days until someone needs a person to blame. Trey notices the differences. He is not treated as trouble, while his brother is ridiculed and punished harshly.

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.