The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson (review)

Reviewed by: The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson Quinita Balderson Johnson, Kim The Color of a Lie. Random House, 2024 336p Trade ed. ISBN 9780593118801 19. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593118825 10. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 Seventeen-year-old Calvin was less than thrilled about his parents moving them from the Chicago area to cookie-cutter suburb Levittown, Pennsylvania, a segregated town that aims to keep it that way. But after defending America in World War II, Calvin's father had no intention of missing out on the American dream the nation boasted of, even if it meant living a veiled existence. Starting a new life in Levittown and enrolling Calvin at Heritage High School rests on the family's ability to pass for white, severing all ties to their Blackness—including Calvin's two siblings. While Calvin attempts to suppress his true identity—which he discovers runs deeper than appearances—Lily, a Black girl, bravely integrates the high school despite the locals' blatant defiance of federal law that grants her the right to attend. The drama gives cover to Calvin until his attraction draws him closer to Lily, raising suspicions of his new friends, placing them both in danger, and potentially jeopardizing a movement. Johnson masterfully weaves elements of historical fiction into this story that addresses race relations in an emerging civil rights era. Nods to figures like Thurgood Marshall and Billie Holliday thread through the narrative along with references to Ellison's The Invisible Man, and a thought-provoking quote from Orwell's 1984 serves to uphold the story's powerful message. Johnson refuses to shy away from heavy content, like the publication of Emmett Till's open casket in Jet magazine, which Calvin's schoolmates shamefully pass around like a "lynching postcard. " With thoughtful contextualization of Calvin's experience, this title deserves to reside alongside other books that invoke open discussions of race and social justice, but it also calls for the attention of anyone who recognizes the absurdity of punishment simply for existing as they are. End Page 364 Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois