Naughts and Crosses

Racism, prejudice, superiority, stereotypes, equality - all very real, important issues in today's society. When you compare where we are now with racial equality to where we were 100 years ago, it's inspiring.

Nevertheless, when you look ahead 100 years to where we may be then it almost seems insignificant. This book has an interesting approach to confronting racist views. It shifted the perspectives.

In Naughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman the "superior" race are those with dark, radiant, glowing skin, known as the Crosses. Those with empty, blank, white skin are known as naughts (naught by definition means nothingness, non existence, or even worthless).

The book takes place at a time where many people wanted to start a revolution because naughts, for the first time, were allowed to attend cross schools.

The two main characters of this novel are Callum (a naught) and and Sephy (a cross). Sephy's father is a politician on his way to being Prime Minister, and when the two were young Callum's mother was a servant for Sephy's family. This lead to Sephy and Callum becoming close childhood friends, but the two families ended up having a falling out.

From that moment on the two had a secret friendship that if discovered could ruin the political career of Sephy's father, and cause Callum's family to feel shame. Regardless, their friendship only grows and they become even closer as they are able to look beyond the color of their skin. However, other events put not only their friendship, but their lives in danger.

This novel is for any reader who needs constant action in a story, the movement in the plot line never ceases. It not only holds your interest, but it refuses to let go. This story stirs your emotions, as you feel like you're experiencing the lives of the characters as you read along with their story. The imagery created by Malorie's word choice is exquisite. Malorie Blackman wrote a novel about serious issues with crucial lessons we can all learn from, making this book one of the few that everyone can enjoy.