A coming of age story that's mainly a vehicle for looking into race relations and privilege in the early 90's.

Dave is the only white kid in an all black school outside of Boston. His hippy Harvard grad parents see it as an "experience" for him with an expectation that he will test into the magnet school for the next school year anyway.

The characters are supposed to be 6th graders, but came off as much older for most of the book. There were times were Dave had a thought process that I supposed meshed more with a 6th grader, but didn't match who he was in other parts of the book. It might have made more sense if they were supposed to be 8th graders.

There are some phrases and word usage that I wasn't quite familiar with. It's easy to figure out, but it's interesting what either a few years or a few miles can do to vernacular.

The book was listed as adult literary fiction, but I can see this being used more in the classroom. There are a few intuitive leaps that maybe a kid would need a teacher or an essay topic to help make.

When I first started this book, I wasn't sure if it was going to be my cup of tea. I am so glad I stuck with it - Excellent!!

A very thoughtful and rather brave look at race relations in the volatile world of teenagers. The voices and circumstance of the characters seem heartbreakingly authentic--you want to look away but you can't. A compelling, important book.

A wonderfully written book that was really funny at times and made you think the whole way through. I found it especially relevant considering all the news of race stuff we still hear in the news, unfortunately. The author has a way with words that hooked me from the beginning and I never wanted the book to end. Tremendous!