The Color of a Lie

Starred review from March 11, 2024
In 1955, Black 17-year-old Calvin Green and his family are forced to leave Chicago for Levittown, Pa., a sundown town. His father encourages them to present themselves as white by disassociating from anything rooted in Black culture. For Calvin, that means no listening to jazz or playing his beloved trumpet. Calvin’s queer, community-organizing older brother Robert—who can’t pass like Calvin and their parents—lives across town and runs Sojourner, a boardinghouse devoted to supporting Black kids. As Calvin works to blend in, he’s torn between guilt about lying, the feeling that he’s abandoning his brother, and his desire to stay true to his Black identity. When he witnesses Black new student Lily being mistreated by his white peers, he uses his passing privilege to defend her, setting him on a path toward liberating other Black youth. But as he delves into the history of his new town, emerging secrets might make his mission more difficult—and dangerous—than he anticipated. Social issues surrounding redlining and white flight serve as a backdrop to this searing work. Through Calvin’s perceptive and sincere first-person narration, Johnson (Invisible Son) examines the complexities of passing privilege and highlights the extreme lengths that those in power will go to uphold white supremacy. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jennifer March Soloway, Andrea Brown Literary.