THE COLOR OF WATER by James McBride

Imagine living in household with 11 brothers and sisters, a mother with an unrevealed past, and almost no money to get by on. The Color of Water tells a truly inspiring story of a single mother struggling to get by, while still raising 12 children and sending them all off to college. The story told from one of her child’s point of view, tells the tale of an African American child with a Caucasian mother, during a time of revolution and change. His mom only cares about church and making sure that her twelve children have a good education and future. When he curiously asks,” What color god is?” She responds that god is the color of water, meaning that it doesn’t matter the color of somebody’s skin, only who they are on the inside. The mother, Ruth McBride lived by this motto, teaching her children that a little money can go a long way, sent 12 educated children to colleges where they all had earned scholarships. It was amazing that a mother coming home with excess peanut butter from old warehouses could accomplish as much as she did. This was probably my favorite part of the book, the moral. No matter what you have, and where you are from you can be successful in life.

Leah