Marcus and Eddie are best friends. They're also stars on the basketball court, where they're known as Black and White. Race has never been an issue: Marcus is black, Eddie is white, but it doesn't matter. Until they start to pull stickups for extra pocket cash and the gun they're using goes off. Now Marcus is going to jail and Eddie is going to college, even though Eddie is the one who fired the gun.

Told in their two voices, Black and White is the gripping story of two good boys who make a bad mistake. It's also a heart-breaking look at the realities of the urban criminal justice system. Written with passion and uncanny authenticity, this is Paul Volponi's debut young adult novel.

"Using authentic voices that will draw in both strong and reluctant readers, Volponi writes a taut novel, avoiding didactism and deftly balancing the drama and passion on the basketball court with each boy’s private terror and anguish. Teens will want to discuss the story’s layered moral ambiguities, heartbreaking choices, and as Marcus says, “the line that separates black and white." -Booklist, starred review

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