AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Whitewash by Ntozake Shange, Michael Sporn ISBN: 0-8027-8491-7 Publisher: Walker & Company Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 Format: Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.85

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (4 reviews)

Rating: 1
Summary: Not for young children.
Comment: I read this book and found it to be too violent for young children. This book is very graphic and can be very upsetting for young impressionable minds. I might recommend this book to much older children of around 10-12 years of age, but definitely not younger than this. It is not appropriate for young children who should be getting a positive element from the books they read. Preschool age children do not have the ability to comprehend the material presented in this book.

Rating: 3
Summary: A disturbing story
Comment: "Whitewash" is a children's book that combines a story by Ntozake Shange with illustrations by Michael Sporn. The book jacket states that the story is "[b]ased on a series of true incidents."

Helene-Angel is a young, urban African-American girl. She and her brother Mauricio are attacked by a gang of racist white kids who paint the girls' face a ghostly shade of white. The story deals with the aftermath of this repulsive crime.

Shange has clearly approached this troubling material with admirable intentions, but I found the results unsatisfying. I felt that the ultimate message of racial reconciliation was not powerful enough to offset the nature of the crime. And a significant plot thread is left hanging. I fear that this book may be too upsetting for some kids; I recommend parental or teacher guidance.

Rating: 5
Summary: A powerful story of a terrible racial incident
Comment: It is depressing but not surprising that "Whitewash" is based on a series of true incidents. Told by Ntozake Shange, author of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf," this is the story of Helene-Angel, a young who is walking home with her older brother from school when they are accosted by a gang of kids who spray paint the little girl's brown skin white. Helene-Angel is devastated by the experience, and not even the love of her grandmother can coax her out of her room for a week while the media circus plays outside her front door.

Children who read "Whitewash" are going to be strong affected. They will identify with Helene-Angel and when her grandmother tells the young girl that she is beautiful, a hero of the race and a brave girl, they will want to believe that but will still empathize with her pain. When they read how Helene-Angel believes she is an embarrassment to herself, her friends, the whole world and the universe, they will want to respond in the same way as the young girl's friends. This book, which is based on the Carnegie Medal-winning video, does not shrink from dealing with the impact of this horrible attack. But it also shows how a terrible racial incident can become a lesson in tolerance and triumph, thereby giving young children a sense of how they can fight back against such evil, if ever, heaven forbid, they or their friends should become victims.

The important things is that if you children or students read this book, that they have the opportunity to write about it or talk in a group about how hey feel and what they are thinking. This topic is disturbing but important, and young readers will need a support system for dealing with their reactions to "Whitewash."