Paul Volponi

While he is one of the more lesser known teen novelists, often overshadowed by people like Rick Riordan, Mike Lupica, and Stephenie Meyer, Paul Volponi is still a fantastic writer. With books such as Crossing Lines, Response, Rooftop, and of course, Black and White, Volponi focuses on aspects of teenage life, such as drugs, sex, pregancy, disease, sexuality, bullying, race, all things that we see in our everyday lives. Volponi also uses strong language in his books, compared to other writers of his genre. Volponi has authored over 10 books about teenage life and topics, and all have done very well in selling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csCpVDOK3Wg

Narrative

As a teenager growing up in the suburbs, and a very diverse area in Mount Kisco at that, I know all about the racial barriers and ideas that are a key factor in this book. So, it’s sort of easier for me to understand the things that they talk about, and the things that the characters go through. At the point where Marcus gets arrested by the cops, it made me think of when I saw my friends get in trouble, not necessarily with the police, but seeing them get in trouble is not a site I’d wish to repeat, because it makes you feel like crap. Eddie goes through the same thing, even though he should have been arrested too. I also understand the feeling of loyalty that Eddie and Marcus show for each other, because loyalty is such a key trait to have. Marcus has the guts to not snitch on his best friend, the person he thinks of as more than a brother, and I’ve been in that case too. I know the feeling of having the choice of ratting on your best friend, and being torn apart between your decision and that’s why I’m able to properly feel with Marcus on his decisions. Going back to the above point of the racial barriers, I have friends that are Black, Hispanic, White, all the different nationalities, and even though we have our differences in terms of race, religion, political alignment it doesn’t matter because we’re friends because of it, which is so similar to Marcus’ and Eddie’s friendship in the book, a friendship that is like a chain, no matter how hard it’s tugged at, it never breaks.

Marcus: A loyal friend, or a fool?

As mentioned before, one very common sight in the legal system is when someone is offered the chance to "snitch" on someone and receive less time, or even no time at all depending on the situation. This is evident in the book, as after Marcus is arrested, the police ask him numerous times about who his partner was. Marcus does not give up Eddie, and therefore Eddie does not get in any trouble. Eddie and his family find this as loyal, but other characters in the book, mostly Marcus' family and the police, find this foolish. I actually agree with Marcus' logic here, the logic being not giving his friend up. If I'm in a situation like that, God forbid, I'm not going to give my friend up. It's called loyalty, and if you're not loyal and you're a rat, bad things happen. There's an old saying, "You be a snitch, expect to get hit". If Marcus snitched on Eddie, we're left to wonder what could have happened, and I don't think it would have turned out too well. While reading the book, I saw myself gaining more and more respect for Marcus, due to the way that he did not forget about his beliefs of loyalty towards his friends,

Book Review

Going back to the previous metaphor of watching a trailer before you check out a movie, you may also want to check out a review of the movie, one that doesn’t give too much away, but one that comments on if they liked it, its strong suits, and its weak points. People also like to do that with books, because if you go and buy a book and you don’t like it, then it’s a waste of money. Black and White, in all honesty, is a great book, but you need to have maturity to read it. If you can’t handle things like robbery and prison, or even language, because God knows that there are certain kids who don’t even know the words in this book in terms of explicit words and slang, this may not be for you. What I liked about Black and White is the constant change of voice, and what I mean by that is that for example, one chapter may be Eddie’s point of view, and then soon enough, you’ll be reading Marcus’ feelings on what exactly is happening. It’s actually a really cool idea, and it gives the reader insight on what is taking place in the scene, or how the narrator is feeling. I would recommend this book to anyone who’s not only into basketball, but someone who is interested in what happens when someone gets into trouble with the police, and the true meaning of loyalty

Black and White summary

Whenever you're looking for a book to read, something that people highly reccomend is finding out what the book is about, and getting a preview of sorts. It's like how before you go see a movie, you check out the trailer and see what you're in for. It's the same thing for books. Black and White is about two high school seniors, Marcus and Eddie. Marcus is an African-American, and Eddie is white, but they're still best friends, even holding the title Black and White, which they're referred because of their achievements on the basketball court, and the fact they're pretty much inseparable, enough to the point that Eddie's family has "adopted" Marcus as one of their own. This is a huge theme in the book, because of the fact that they're of different races, but they're able to have a strong friendship. Their friendship is put on the rocks after they commit several robberies of people, ending in one man being shot. During a basketball game, in a true sense of irony, Marcus is arrested. Black and White's friendship, along with their future, is all put into the hands of Marcus, who is faced with a choice so many people have: Snitch on Eddie, and possibly get less, or even no time, or keep his mouth shut and take the punishment. Black and White deals with themes such as racism, loyalty, and most importantly, friendship.

Testing

Welcome to the Black and White blog, presented by Jake Elman, where I'll be covering Black And White, a young coming of age novel that is written by Paul Volponi. On this blog we'll have a description of the book, pressing questions, polls, videos, and more.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Paul-Volponi/dp/0670060062