The Other Side

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

First line: That summer the fence that stretched through our town seemed bigger.

Why you should read this book: Clover’s mother forbids her to cross over the fence that divides the white neighborhoods from the black ones in her segregated town, so at first she tries to ignore the little white girl standing alone on the other side. Annie’s mother has told her not to cross the fence either, but neither girls’ mother ever said anything about sitting on the fence, and, despite the difference in their skin color, the two girls have too much in common to ignore each other all summer. Together, they begin to build a theoretical bridge between two separate worlds, culminating in the prediction that someday, someone will come along and tear that fence down once and for all.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You don’t care what the kids look like, you just want them to get the heck off your land.