1. By: Paul Valponi
Jack Hill
Reading-Miss Roche
Period 3
May 11, 2012
2. Paul Valponi grew up in New York, New
York. He later went to college in New York.
Then right after college he started working
at Riker’s Island Educational Facility. At his
job he witnessed a lot of racism which
inspired Paul in many of his books. Paul is
now a writer, journalist, and a educator. He
has written many books and has received
many awards for them such as the American
Library Association Best Book for Young
Adults nomination. Paul continues to write
today.
3. Black and White is a novel about two friends Marcus and
Eddie. Eddie is white and Marcus is black, but that does not
affect their friendship. They both have a lot going for
themselves in sports and in school. Marcus and Eddie are
known as Black and White throughout their neighborhoods.
Marcus and Eddie are the best players on their basketball
team and have a good shot to play in college. Then they
make a bad mistake. Marcus and Eddie want to make some
easy cash by robbing people. They bring a gun to scare the
people so that they would get the money from the person.
They were not planning to shoot the person but Eddie did on
accident. Black and White could get in a lot of trouble. Will
they get arrested? Will they ever play basketball again? Will
they ever be able to save their friendship? Read on to find
out.
4. Main Characters
1. Eddie: A great athlete and student, but sometimes makes some pretty
bad decisions.
2. Marcus: Also a great athlete and student, but does not stick up for what
he believes is right or wrong .He just does whatever the other people do.
He gives into peer pressure.
3. Rose: Eddies little sister that really sticks up for people and helps them
through tough situations.
Supporting Characters
1. Casey: Eddie’s and Marcus’ basketball coach that tells them how to
behave on and off the court. He tries his best to make sure his players are
good kids off the court.
2. Mr. Russo: Is Eddie’s parent driven to make sure their kids don’t get into
trouble.
3. Jefferson: A teacher who tries to help Marcus and Eddie get through the
tough times they are in.
5. • Introduction
- Meet Eddie and Marcus or “Black and White”
- Setting: New York City
• Rising Action
- Eddie and Marcus are playing on their high schools basketball
team and they are the stars.
- They are trying to figure out a way to get some easy money
- Eddie decides they will use his Grandpa’s old handgun
- When they are robbing somebody they get scared because the
guy comes after them and they shoot him
- Eddie get a scholarship to St. Johns for basketball
- They find out the guy is still living
- Then Eddie and Marcus are scared to go anywhere because they
do not want to be caught
6. • Climax
- The guy Eddie shot pointed out Marcus in the school year book as one of
the robbers which meant Marcus was guilty , but Eddie was not even
questioned
• Falling Action
- Marcus will not tell the police officers who the other robber was, but
Eddie knows that if they find out he will be in huge trouble and loose his
scholarship
- Eddie is very scared that the police will find out and his basketball career
would be over
- The police come to Eddie’s house and question him, but he is not proven
guilty
- They team makes it to the playoffs but Marcus can’t play and they loose
• Conclusion
- Marcus ends up dating Rose Eddie’s sister but he only has a few days
before going upstate to prison
- Eddie is never guilty of anything and keeps playing basketball
- Then the last day before Marcus goes upstate Marcus and Eddie play a
game of one on one basketball.
7. 1.Convict- n. a person serving usually a long prison sentence
She said they were treating me like a convict already. Pg137
2.Accessory-n. a thing of secondary or subordinate
importance.
“ I’d tell you boys to shoot the lights out this afternoon, but
that might make me an accessory,” he laughed. Pg 100
3.Indict- v. to charge with a fault or offense.
“ My lawyer says he could indict a ham or a sandwich if he
wanted to. Pg 114
5.Racist- n. racial prejudice or discrimination.
That’s when some black kid in the bleachers screamed she
was a racist. Pg 143
5.Grand jury- n. A jury that examines accusations against
persons charged with a crime and if the evidence
warrants makes formal charges on which the accused
persons are later.
So I knew I had been indicted by the grand jury.
12. A seen were the cops come to Marcus’ basketball game and arrest him.
Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
When you were eight and you had bad traits you go to school
And learn the golden rule, So why are you acting like a bloody fool
If you get hot then you must get cool!
Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do?
When they come for you?Bad boys bad boys whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
13. I gave Black and White a rating of
5 out of 5 stars
I really liked this book because it gave a
good lesson about thinking before you do
something. If you don’t you might be in big
trouble and have to go to jail and leave
everything behind. Another thing I liked
about this book was the author really
described all the characters. I love this book
because it gives an important lesson that
happens to a lot of teenagers.
