A review by bibliobrandie
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

3.0

While I liked Dante and his family and think this is an important discussion of race and identity, I had a hard time with parts of the plot, which felt formulaic (the underdog trope) at times. The arrest and then subplot of the civil rights court battle with Dante as the defendant was over in a few pages without further discussion. I think students will enjoy this book and the formulaic plot is really intended for the middle grade age, but as an adult reader I was left wanting more. There was a lot of fencing and while I enjoyed learning a bit about the sport, it did bog down the pace of the story at times. I will still recommend this to readers and think it's a great introduction to the inequality students of color experience in schools. The author's note at the end is great.