The Color of a Lie
This young-adult book, set in 1955, is perfect for anyone struggling to embrace who they are. When high-school junior Calvin Greene is uprooted from his life in Chicago after a tragedy befalls his family, he has to pass as white in a suburban 1950s American town. Levittown is picture-perfect—no picket fences, but there might as well be, with the line dividing Calvin from his neighbors that everyone else is blind to. As if fleeing his old neighborhood wasn’t enough, now Calvin must choke back everything that makes him who he is to fit into this all-white Pennsylvania town.
Spots of brightness amongst Calvin’s worry-ridden days are his crush Lily Baker, and the Black friends he makes across town. Hiding takes its toll. And when he finds out that Levittown is riddled with secrets, will Calvin be able to protect his family and the people who are starting to make his new life feel like a home?
Kim Johnson explores the context in which historical events and ideology impact regulations, practices, the social justice system, and social institutions from the 1950s up to this day, through the eyes of a teenage protagonist. As Johnson says in the note in the introduction: “[I] use my writing to unearth a hidden history some might prefer to keep buried. I invite you to enter this novel, its setting a symbol of countless communities, and join Calvin Greene on his journey through Color of a Lie.” It is a journey well worth taking.
