Starred Review for Publishers Weekly

Volponi's (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Rikers) excellent novel has it all: authentic characters, a thought-provoking plot and heartbreaking drama. Marcus Brown and Eddie Russo are best friends and basketball stars at a Queens, N.Y., high school, well-known not only for their athletic prowess but also because Marcus is black and Eddie white ("Kids who are different colors don't get to be that tight in my neighborhood"). As Marcus says, they've gotten "past all that racial crap," but the novel makes it clear that the rest of society hasn't. Short on cash, the boys stick up a few strangers using Eddie's grandfather's gun, which accidentally discharges during their third robbery, grazing an African-American man's head. In alternating first-person narratives, the two describe the aftermath of the events. Marcus is arrested first because the victim recognizes him as a passenger on the public bus he drives. The cops soon connect the dots and figure out Eddie is "the shooter," but the evidence against him is only circumstantial. Grand plans of scholarships and pro careers begin to unravel, more dramatically for Marcus, whose family does not have the means to hire an attorney. The two teens wrestle with guilt and obligation—to their parents, to their victims and to each other. The mess in which they find themselves raises questions about the burdens of friendship and the role race plays in criminal justice. The fast-paced action, vivid on-court scenes and gritty, natural dialogue make this a pageturner of a tale. Ages 12-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(May)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-A taut tale of friendship, racial tension, and sacrifice. Long Island City High School basketball stars Marcus Brown and Eddie Russo, aka "Black and White," turn to robbery to get easy money for shoes and senior fees. When Eddie produces his dead grandfather's gun, the teens feel powerful and fearless until just another stickup goes wrong, and Eddie fires the weapon. The wounded victim identifies Marcus, who is arrested and who resolutely refuses to identify his gun-wielding accomplice. He is sentenced to 19 months in prison while Eddie denies his criminal involvement and claims a college basketball scholarship at St. John's. In alternating chapters, the young men reveal their shame and guilt as they slip into the archetypal pattern of the black man bearing the white man's burden. Marcus becomes the tragic, forgiving, but inspiring hero while Eddie opts for deceit and a tainted future. Confronted by his father's anger, his mother's hysteria, and the possible loss of his college prospects, Eddie is willing to abandon his African-American friend. Resigned but spiritually strong, Marcus accepts his fate while his mother deplores Eddie's cowardice. These complex characters share a mutual respect and struggle with issues of loyalty, honesty, and courage. Social conflicts, basketball fervor, and tough personal choices make this title a gripping story. Teens will anxiously follow Marcus and Eddie to the last page and then ponder the choices they made and the pervasive significance of race in American society.-Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Marcus is black and Eddie white in a multicultural Long Island neighborhood. Known to all as "Black and White," they have honed their athletic skills together and are in the midst of a basketball season headed to the playoffs and scholarships to good colleges. They know each other's timing and rhythm and feel complete trust in each other. However, off the court they have decided to supplement their income by holding up strangers for money for senior activities and the latest athletic shoes. Using Grandpa's gun from Eddie's attic, both think their initial success means invincibility. The nightmare that ensues when Eddie inadvertently hits the trigger—and their victim—becomes the playing field for the author's exploration of how much difference race can make in the fate of each boy and their friendship. Rather than exploring the issue of race by pretending it doesn't exist, Volponi points directly at it, illustrating at every turn that the race of the various characters influences events as well as whether Marcus will end up in prison alone. Consequences for everyone unfold and escalate in rapid-fire fashion. Hugely discussable. (Fiction. YA)

Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2005)

Starred Review Kids who are different colors don't get to be all that tight in my neighborhood. But we get past all that racial crap, says Marcus, an African American senior whose best friend, Eddie, is white. Together, the boys are known at school as Black and White. Both are basketball stars entertaining scholarship offers from local New York City colleges, but they risk everything for more spending money. Considering fast-food jobs too demeaning, they turn to armed stickups, and during their third robbery, they shoot and wound their victim. In alternating chapters, Marcus and Eddie recount the terrifying days after the event as they wait for the police to find and arrest them. The disparate treatment each receives highlights their racial divide, which is occasionally echoed on the streets in harsh language full of hate: a man on the subway tells a white girl that niggers are going to fuck you, too. Using authentic voices that will draw in both strong and reluctant readers, Volponi writes a taut novel that avoids didacticism and deftly balances 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.

Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2005)

Marcus (black) and Eddie (white) are basketball players with realistic dreams of scholarships and pro careers. Then they're caught for a string of burglaries, one that results in Eddie's shooting a man and Marcus's taking the rap. Themes of friendship, racial justice, and youthful mistakes overpower the story while the dual narration reveals two points of view but little distinction between voices.