The Color of Water 10th Anniversary Edition (Paperback) - MindSpan Development_Executive Coaching and Leadership Development_Greater China and Other Parts of Asia Pacific

Jeanne Scott (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

James McBride reveals his life in a story that proclaims the life of his mother. His vivid account of his mother's is a tribute to her, in all her human failings and successes. He embarks on this journey with an astounding honesty, that shines with the fervor of childhood and then glows with the understanding of maturity, and he never misses a beat!! His mother was the daughter of a dictatorial Rabbi and a handicapped mother who arrived in the United States from Poland. His mother made decisions to live her life on her own terms and learned to see beyond what was on the outside of a person, to see others for who they were, not what they were. When James McBride discovers things about his heritage that he never suspected he unveils them with an open heart and a new appreciation for what his mother's life entailed. Her hardships, her strengths and her weaknesses are placed carefully before the reader like valuable gems in their raw and unpolished state and then he becomes an artisan, transforming them into a moving tribute to crown his mother in this emotional, unforgettable memoir.

Lawyeraau (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

This book is, indeed, a tribute to the author's mother. In it, the author, a man whose mother was white and his father black, tells two stories: that of his mother and his own. Tautly written in spare, clear prose, it is a wonderful story of a bi-racial family who succeeded and achieved the American dream, despite the societal obstacles placed in its way.

The author's mother was a Polish Orthodox Jew who migrated to America at the age of two with her family during the early nineteen twenties. They ultimately settled down in Virginia, where she led an isolated and lonely life; shunned by whites because she was Jewish and shunned by blacks because she was white. She was raised in a predominantly black neighborhood, where her father, a despicable and harsh man who brutalized his handicapped wife, ran a local grocery store, where he priced gouged his black clientele.

She left home and moved to New York when she was nineteen and never looked back. She met and married the author's father, a black man, when mixed race marriages were still frowned upon by both whites and blacks. Still, she always felt more comfortable around blacks than around whites. When he died sixteen years later, she married another black man who nurtured her eight children by the author's father and proceeded to give her four more children.

The author tells of his childhood, of his family, and of the issue of race that ultimately colored his life while growing up in predominantly black neighborhoods, where his mother stood out like a sore thumb because of the color of her skin. It was always an issue his mother avoided discussing with him, as for her it was not an issue. It was not until the author wrote this book that his mother discussed the issue of race within the context of her own life. From this dialogue emerges a fascinating look at the issues of race, as well as religion, and how it impacts on an individual's identity within our race conscious society.

It is also a very personal story. While the author's family was economically disadvantaged, his eccentric and independent mother always stressed education. She was a strict disciplinarian who brooked no nonsense from her twelve children. A convert to Christianity through her first husband, with whom she founded a Baptist church, she provided her children with the will to succeed. Consequently, all twelve eventually went to college and did her proud. The story of this unique family is told from two distinct, parallel perspectives: that of the author and that of his mother. While both are interesting, it is his mother's story that dominates this beautifully written book, which is, indeed, a tribute to her. It is truly a story told from the heart, as the love that the author has for his mother is evident with every written word.

Barbara Stegner (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

This is a great inspirational book that keeps you interested the whole time. James McBride ( the author) did a really good job of telling the story of his mother's history. You will truly get an understanding for what it is like to stick to your dreams and goals and achieve them. In this book the author skips from present to past to give you a feel for both his mother's life and his. Through out the story James is trying to find out why his mother is so different from everyone else. Why she is so pale compared to him and his siblings. While his mother wants him not to worry about her past and to worry about his future. She encourages him and the rest of her children that homework is to be done before anything else. "Educate yourself or you'll be nobody". Despite her constant nagging James is led astray and starts getting into things that he shouldn't do. After a tragedy happens James gets back on his feet and begins to educate himself again. He eventually is able to attend college. Although his mother goes though the loss of two husbands and being the mother to eleven children she is still has a great outlook on life. All eleven children end up attending college and educated themselves so they wouldn't be nobody. This is truly a book that everyone should read some time in their life time.

Molly B. Miranda (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

I really enjoyed this book. James McBride tells the story of his mother and of his own life, intertwining chapters to give you an understanding of his mother's struggles and how she has affected and impacted him. James McBride's mother was a Polish Orthodox Jew who never felt completely accepted by others. To whites, she was different because she was Jewish, while to blacks she was different because she was white. She moved to New York when she was 19, married McBride's black father and had 8 children. After her husband died she married another black man and had 4 more children.

This book is a tribute to James McBride's mother, but more than that it is the story of a family who was able to achieve success and prosperity. McBride's mother was one of few whites in a predominantly black neighborhood, and his family one of the few bi-racial families at the time. His mother made education a priority and all 12 of her children went to college. McBride's writing makes his love and admiration for his mother clear, and the writing is quite moving. I really enjoyed it.

Shalom Freedman (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

This is a great book. It is a book of the triumph of the human spirit. It tells of a white mother who married two different black men , and had twelve children. It tells of her dedication to them, her raising them to be value education .And her raising them above all to be good human beings.

The author writes with a great love and understanding of his mother, and the difficulty of her struggle. He writes without cliche and with a very good feeling for language.

Though I as a religious Jew see something wrong in his mother's decision to leave her faith and become a Christian, I also understand how her Jewish education was central in the values of learning she imparted to her children. I also understand how coming from a situation of being unloved she sought to make a family in which there would be what she lacked.

On a purely human level this is a tremendously powerful book, and most highly recommended.

A reader (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

James McBride's book "The Color of Water" is a kind of love poem to a very special woman, his mother, Rachel Jordan McBride. Born Rachel Shilsky in Virginia, where Jews were somewhat higher on the pecking order than Afro-Americans but lower down than Anglo-Saxon whites, a victim of sexual abuse by a father who despised his own wife, Rachel is a survivor; nothing sets her back for long. Having cut herself off from her family by her marriage across racial and religious lines, Rachel proceeded to indoctrinate her sizeable brood of a dozen children with values both fundamental and timeless: work hard, study hard, if you don't study and learn, you are nobody.

Rachel chose to deal with her children's bi-racial heritage by denying its importance, which may have helped her to deal with the rejection she faced from her own family, but didn't help her children to deal with the ambivalence every bi-racial child feels in a country that places as much emphasis on race as the United States, with a foot in each camp, belonging to both races and to neither. When James asks his mother what color he is, she tells him he is the color of water; meaning that he is of all colors and none. It was left to her children to work out this out for themselves, while Rachel provided the basics: love, guidance, and discipline. And Rachel was assisted in this endeavor by her marriages to not one, but two strong black men, confident enough in their own identity to help Rachel raise her children to become solid, productive citizens.

McBride charts his own journey to self-discovery and this book is as much about him as it is about his mother. For this reviewer, one of his most telling observations was when he stated that growing up "deprived" in his day didn't have the connotations it has today: his family was "deprived" in the sense that they had limited financial means, but he and his siblings had two parents, an extended family, a church and a neighborhood that provided stability and guidance. In a moving coda to the book, he describes his own foray into the Jewish half of his heritage when he participates in the Jewish wedding ceremony of one of his best friends. What comes across most clearly in this book is the author's love and admiration for a very strong, resourceful woman. "The Color of Water" is a moving, thoughtful memoir about growing up in a biracial and bicultural household and of the indomitable woman who headed it. Very highly recommended.

Jana L. Perskie (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

I read "The Color of Water" when it was first published in 1996 and was awed and incredibly moved by the story. It is a testimony really, to the author's mother, a white Jewish woman who married a black man, and how she struggled to raise her children in a racist environment, and in poverty. She managed to instill in her children a deep respect for God, religion and for education, and sent all twelve to college. I recently spent the weekend at a friend's home where I saw the book and picked it up to reread. I believe, even more strongly now, that "The Color Of Water" is very special, and feel compelled to pass the word along to those who have yet to read this unique memoir.

James McBride, the author, grew up in the all-black housing projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn. He was one of twelve siblings. His father was a black minister and his Mom, a Polish-born, Southern-raised Jewish mother. As a boy, growing up, James always knew his mother was different. When he would ask her about differences in skin color, she would reply, "I am light skinned." When he asked whether he was black or white, her response was, "You're a human being." And when James asked what color God was, his mother said, "God is the color of water."

Mr. McBride has written a powerful piece about race, identity and growing up in a multiracial, multicultural home. The writing is lyrical and well crafted. The story is unforgettable. Highly recommended.

Amy K Grissom (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

I borrowed this book from a friend of mine who just raved over it (a Jewish white male). I'm white & my boyfriend is black. We share many values, but we certainly have some cultural differences as well. So, I figured there would be some pearls of wisdom to be gleaned here and there.

I got a lot more than that and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. Mr. McBride's story reflects human reality, with all of the contradictions that go along with being true to oneself, even when the truth itself must be buried to do it.

If you are interested in issues of spirituality, identity, values, sheer willpower, and, of course, motherhood and family, you must read this book. It's amazing.

Lawyeraau (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

This book is, indeed, a tribute to the author's mother. In it, the author, a man whose mother was white and his father black, tells two stories: that of his mother and his own. Tautly written in spare, clear prose, it is a wonderful story of a bi-racial family who succeeded and achieved the American dream, despite the societal obstacles placed in its way.

The author's mother was a Polish Orthodox Jew who migrated to America at the age of two with her family during the early nineteen twenties. They ultimately settled down in Virginia, where she led an isolated and lonely life; shunned by whites because she was Jewish and shunned by blacks because she was white. She was raised in a predominantly black neighborhood, where her father, a despicable and harsh man who brutalized his handicapped wife, ran a local grocery store, where he priced gouged his black clientele.

She left home and moved to New York when she was nineteen and never looked back. She met and married the author's father, a black man, when mixed race marriages were still frowned upon by both whites and blacks. Still, she always felt more comfortable around blacks than around whites. When he died sixteen years later, she married another black man who nurtured her eight children by the author's father and proceeded to give her four more children.

The author tells of his childhood, of his family, and of the issue of race that ultimately colored his life while growing up in predominantly black neighborhoods, where his mother stood out like a sore thumb because of the color of her skin. It was always an issue his mother avoided discussing with him, as for her it was not an issue. It was not until the author wrote this book that his mother discussed the issue of race within the context of her own life. From this dialogue emerges a fascinating look at the issues of race, as well as religion, and how it impacts on an individual's identity within our race conscious society.

It is also a very personal story. While the author's family was economically disadvantaged, his eccentric and independent mother always stressed education. She was a strict disciplinarian who brooked no nonsense from her twelve children. A convert to Christianity through her first husband, with whom she founded a Baptist church, she provided her children with the will to succeed. Consequently, all twelve eventually went to college and did her proud. The story of this unique family is told from two distinct, parallel perspectives: that of the author and that of his mother. While both are interesting, it is his mother's story that dominates this beautifully written book, which is, indeed, a tribute to her. It is truly a story told from the heart, as the love that the author has for his mother is evident with every written word.

A reader (MSL quote), USA <2007-01-25 00:00>

I adored this book. I read it over a year ago and still remember its impact. I am neither Black nor Jewish yet this did not impede my pleasure at reading a finely crafted, moving and honest account of a family. The author's voice is authentic and bracing in its intelligence. A compelling and brave book - and an important one. I read it again when I had finished, to catch the nuances I had doubtless missed the first greedy go-round. A gift, of course. He has a gift.