# Black Brother, Black Brother

**Author:** Jewell Parker Rhodes
**Grade range:** Grades 5–8
**Age range:** 10–13
**First published:** 2021
**Genre:** Realistic Fiction
**ISBN-13:** `9781510109872`
**ISBN-10:** `1510109870`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/black-brother-black-brother
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

A powerful coming-of-age story about two brothers - one who presents as white, the other as Black - and the ways they are forced to navigate a world that doesn't treat them equally. Donte wishes he were invisible. As one of the few black boys at his school, he feels as if he is constantly swimming in whiteness. Most of the students don't look like him. They don't like him either. Dubbed the 'Black Brother', Donte's teachers and classmates make it clear they wish he were more like his lighter skinned brother, Dre.

## Themes

- racism
- identity
- justice

## Where this book is assigned

### Kentucky Bluegrass Award

- **recommended** · 5th grade · Kentucky — [source: Kentucky Association of School Librarians — Kentucky Bluegrass Award Winner's Circle (grades 3-5 + 6-8; annual since 1983)](https://www.kasl.us/kba/kba-winners-circle)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · Kentucky — [source: Kentucky Association of School Librarians — Kentucky Bluegrass Award Winner's Circle (grades 3-5 + 6-8; annual since 1983)](https://www.kasl.us/kba/kba-winners-circle)
- **recommended** · 7th grade · Kentucky — [source: Kentucky Association of School Librarians — Kentucky Bluegrass Award Winner's Circle (grades 3-5 + 6-8; annual since 1983)](https://www.kasl.us/kba/kba-winners-circle)
- **recommended** · 8th grade · Kentucky — [source: Kentucky Association of School Librarians — Kentucky Bluegrass Award Winner's Circle (grades 3-5 + 6-8; annual since 1983)](https://www.kasl.us/kba/kba-winners-circle)

### Mountain Laurel Book Award (Pennsylvania)

- **recommended** · 5th grade · Pennsylvania — [source: Mountain Laurel Book Award / Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award — PSLA official winners list (K-12 divisions), winners cross-verified via Goodreads award index](https://pyrcapsla.wixsite.com/pyrca/past-titles-and-winners)
- **recommended** · 6th grade · Pennsylvania — [source: Mountain Laurel Book Award / Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award — PSLA official winners list (K-12 divisions), winners cross-verified via Goodreads award index](https://pyrcapsla.wixsite.com/pyrca/past-titles-and-winners)
- **recommended** · 7th grade · Pennsylvania — [source: Mountain Laurel Book Award / Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award — PSLA official winners list (K-12 divisions), winners cross-verified via Goodreads award index](https://pyrcapsla.wixsite.com/pyrca/past-titles-and-winners)
- **recommended** · 8th grade · Pennsylvania — [source: Mountain Laurel Book Award / Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award — PSLA official winners list (K-12 divisions), winners cross-verified via Goodreads award index](https://pyrcapsla.wixsite.com/pyrca/past-titles-and-winners)

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