The Color of a Lie
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jun 11, 2024
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- $10.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
In 1955, a Black family passes for white and moves to a “Whites Only” town in the suburbs. Caught between two worlds, a teen boy puts his family at risk as he uncovers racist secrets about his suburb. A new social justice thriller from the acclaimed author of This Is My America!
Calvin knows how to pass for white. He's done it plenty of times before. For his friends in Chicago, when they wanted food but weren't allowed in a restaurant. For work, when he and his dad would travel for the Green Book.
This is different.
After a tragedy in Chicago forces the family to flee, they resettle in an idyllic all-white suburban town in search of a better life. Calvin's father wants everyone to embrace their new white lifestyles, but it's easier said than done. Hiding your true self is exhausting -- which leads Calvin across town where he can make friends who know all of him...and spend more time with his new crush, Lily. But when Calvin starts unraveling dark secrets about the white town and its inhabitants, passing starts to feel even more suffocating--and dangerous--than he could have imagined.
Expertly weaving together real historical events with important reflections on being Black in America, acclaimed author Kim Johnson powerfully connects readers to the experience of being forced to live a life-threatening lie or embrace an equally deadly truth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1955, Black 17-year-old Calvin Green and his family are forced to leave Chicago for Levittown, Pa., a sundown town. His father encourages them to present themselves as white by disassociating from anything rooted in Black culture. For Calvin, that means no listening to jazz or playing his beloved trumpet. Calvin's queer, community-organizing older brother Robert—who can't pass like Calvin and their parents—lives across town and runs Sojourner, a boardinghouse devoted to supporting Black kids. As Calvin works to blend in, he's torn between guilt about lying, the feeling that he's abandoning his brother, and his desire to stay true to his Black identity. When he witnesses Black new student Lily being mistreated by his white peers, he uses his passing privilege to defend her, setting him on a path toward liberating other Black youth. But as he delves into the history of his new town, emerging secrets might make his mission more difficult—and dangerous—than he anticipated. Social issues surrounding redlining and white flight serve as a backdrop to this searing work. Through Calvin's perceptive and sincere first-person narration, Johnson (Invisible Son) examines the complexities of passing privilege and highlights the extreme lengths that those in power will go to uphold white supremacy. Ages 12–up.
