Title: The color of water
First published: 1996
Description: James McBride grew up one of twelve siblings in the all-black housing projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn, the son of a black minister and a woman who would not admit she was white. The object of McBride's constant embarrassment and continuous fear for her safety, his mother was an inspiring figure, who through sheer force of will saw her dozen children through college, and many through graduate school.

McBride was an adult before he discovered the truth about his mother: The daughter of a failed itinerant Orthodox rabbi in rural Virginia, she had run away to Harlem, married a black man, and founded an all-black Baptist church in her living room in Red Hook. In her son's remarkable memoir, she tells in her own words the story of her past.

Around her narrative, James McBride has written a powerful portrait of growing up, a meditation on race and identity, and a poignant, beautifully crafted hymn from a son to his mother.
Subjects: Mulattoes, Race identity, Mothers, Racially mixed people, Whites, Biography, Identitätsfindung, Kind, Mutter, Junge, African Americans, Large type books, New york (n.y.), biography, White people, African americans, biography, Mothers and sons, Reading Level-Grade 11, Reading Level-Grade 12, Racially mixed children, Parents of racially mixed children, Family, Jewish women, Jews, Interracial marriage, Families, Social aspects, New York, Personal Memoirs, Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography, Biography & Autobiography, People of Color, Biography/Autobiography, New York (State), Audiobooks, Biography & Autobiography / People of Color, Biography & Autobiography/Personal Memoirs, Ethnic Orientation/African-American, McBride, James, McBride-Jordan, Ruth, New York (N.Y.), New York., Audio - Autobiography / Biography, Biographies, Famille, Métissage, Récits personnels, Juifs, Conditions sociales, Relations interethniques
Places: New York (State), New York, New York (N.Y.), NewYork (State)
People: James McBride (1957-), Ruth McBride-Jordan (1921-), Ruth McBride-Jordan, James McBride
LC classification: F130.N4