The Color of a Lie
by Kim Johnson
Middle School, High School    Random    336 pp.
6/24    9780593118801    $19.99
Library ed.  9780593118818    $22.99
e-book ed.  9780593118825    $10.99

Moving to a new town can prove stressful for anyone—but for Calvin Greene and his family in 1955, it’s also dangerous. African Americans passing for white, the Greene family has moved to Levittown, Pennsylvania, a known “sundown town”—a suburb populated by white people that warns people of color to leave the area by sunset. Determined to grab a piece of the “American dream,” Calvin’s army-veteran father has advised him and his mother to forget their former lives in Chicago and assimilate as well as possible. Calvin’s only solace is visiting his older brother, who is unable to pass as white and who runs a boarding school in an area where a developer is attempting to build an integrated community. At the school, Calvin meets Lily, a beautiful girl with “dark brown skin” who decides to take advantage of the new Brown v. Board of Education ruling by attending Calvin’s all-white school. With his two worlds dangerously close to each other, tragedies involving people from his hometown prompt Calvin to act in the best interests of all those close to him—even if it could cost him his life. Tension is evident from the beginning to the frenetic end of this page-turning novel, which weaves historical events into the narrative. Back matter includes an author’s note and resources on topics including passing, the history of Levittown, and redlining.

From the July/August 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.