Black Brother, Black Brother

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade realistic
• Originally Published: 2020
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 400L; grades 5-9
• Structure/Length: Approx. 272 pages; approx. 4 hours, 36 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Twelve-year-old Donte experiences injustice and inequality at Middlefield Prep; some episodes are especially pronounced because he presents as Black while his brother Trey presents as white. When a run-in with the school bully compounds trouble for Donte, he enlists the help of a former Olympic athlete to beat the bully at his own game: fencing.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Bullying; racism; hinted-at instances of the n-word; social injustice

Jewell Parker Rhodes, Author

• Bio: Born in 1954 in Pittsburgh; raised in California but later returned to Pittsburgh; earned degrees at Carnegie Mellon University; lives currently in Seattle; writer of fiction for adults and children; professor; recipient of the Yaddo Creative Writing fellowship, the National Endowment for the Arts Award in Fiction, the Fiction Award of the Black Caucus of the ALA, and two nominations for the Pushcart Prize; Founding Artistic Director of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing and Narrative Studies
• Other Works: Ninth Ward (2010); Towers Falling (2016); Ghost Boys (2018)
• Awards: NAACP Image Award for Youth/Teens Outstanding Literary Work (2021)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit: