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meghanstinar's review
4.0
This is a great book for middle-grade students. I liked the short chapters, personable tone, and plethora of examples and anecdotes to help readers understand concepts in ways that make sense to them.
kteix's review
5.0
I can't say enough positive things about this book. I'm an educator trying to do the work in a predominantly white community. This book provides objective truths about racism in a tone that is inviting to young readers. It is informative without being inflammatory or accusatory-- and is even self-depricating at times-- to engage the reader in a difficult and necessary talk. What I think will be most helpful to my students are the personal anecdotes Kiely sprinkles in such as "aggressive mini-vanning" and "white boy runs" to inspire reflection on the moments in our lives where white privilege kept us safe from harm. In the end, Kiely inspires the reader to be a better listener first, and then use our privilege to take down the systemic barriers that we have been complicit in for far too long. Excellent book!!
italian_herbs's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.5
elsa_k's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
I don’t really know how to rate this, but I found the statistics very interesting
libscote's review
4.0
I thought this was excellent. It didn't really go over anything I didn't already personally know, but I read a lot of this stuff. I think it works really well for people who DON'T necessarily think about this stuff all the time, or are interested but don't know where to start.
prozac's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
ladygetslit's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
I wish I’d had this book as a teen. Back then, I didn’t have the language to understand systemic racism and the way it impacts the daily lives of Black people, Indigenous people, and other people of color. This book is an incredible tool to help young white people confront hard truths that we’re unfortunately trained to not notice. The message: we have to sit with the discomfort, listen to the people impacted by racism, and speak up about what we’ve learned.
I knocked my rating 0.25 stars only because I didn’t really enjoy the jolting writing style. I think it will work great for kids, especially teens, but I just didn’t connect with that aspect of the book.
Important Note: when educating ourselves about racism, it’s important to seek out the voices of those who are impacted. By no means should this (admittedly well-written and informative) book by a white man be the only book we read or expose our young people to in order to learn about racism. Please see the list at the back of the book for further resources.
I knocked my rating 0.25 stars only because I didn’t really enjoy the jolting writing style. I think it will work great for kids, especially teens, but I just didn’t connect with that aspect of the book.
Important Note: when educating ourselves about racism, it’s important to seek out the voices of those who are impacted. By no means should this (admittedly well-written and informative) book by a white man be the only book we read or expose our young people to in order to learn about racism. Please see the list at the back of the book for further resources.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism