Black Brother, Black Brother Written by Jewell Parker Rhodes. Reviewed by Noel, Age 12

Black Brother, Black Brother is a story about two teenage brothers with different coloured skin. Donte has darker skin and Trey has lighter coloured skin. It is clear that the brothers are treated differently at school because they look different and Donte is bullied by a boy at school called Alan, who is the best fencer on the school fencing team. Alan makes Donte feel uncomfortable and he is racist towards him. He chants ‘black brother, black brother’ to Donte throughout the story, hence the name of the book. Donte ends up getting arrested and suspended from school after an incident with Alan. Donte soon has enough of the bullying and challenges Alan to a fencing competition. Donte starts to get trained by a fencer who has been in the Olympics.

I really liked the two brothers, Donte and Trey because they were really funny especially when they tease and play fight with each other. The ending of the story was my favourite part. I found it very exciting when Donte and Alan finally took part in the fencing competition. I liked it because I wasn’t sure what would happen next – I really wanted Donte to win against Alan. After everything that he had been through and training so hard, he deserved to win.

I really enjoyed reading this book and learning more about fencing, but I found it quite challenging sometimes. I would recommend this book for young people aged 12+. I think that anyone who enjoyed the Karate Kid films would like this book as it is about somebody who works hard to learn a new sport and succeed even though everything seems hard for them. I really liked Donte because he is strong and sets a good example for other people rather than reacting in a bad way.

The story made me think about all the people in the world who are prejudiced and racist. I think it is really horrible when people judge others and treat them differently because of the colour of their skin.