Eddie Meyer is biracial — Black mother, white father — and starting high school in a small town in the northeastern U.S. He has plans: football, student government, maybe politics someday. He is organized, optimistic, and ready.
The town has other ideas.
Over four years of high school, Eddie encounters what it actually means to move through the world in his skin — microaggressions from classmates, a police encounter that goes differently than it would for his white friends, a school system that sees his race before it sees him. Through it all, Eddie grows. Not because the world gets better. Because he does.
This book doesn't play it safe. This book tackles: racism, microaggressions, biracial identity, police encounters with Black teens, white privilege, and the exhausting, ongoing work of being a person of color in a predominantly white town — written as a three-act play so the dialogue does the talking
Pairs beautifully with: Learning for Justice resources (learningforjustice.org), discussions of microaggressions and implicit bias, and the question: "What is 'The Talk' — and why do some parents have to have it and others don't?"
Note for teachers: the microaggressions in this play are real. They are documented. They are things your students of color have heard. Use the free supplemental materials available at puenteslanguage.com — and let the play start the conversation you've been afraid to have.
Note: written as a three-act play — ideal for readers' theater, classroom performance, and dramatic read-aloud. Licensing available for public performance.
A portion of proceeds is donated to Learning for Justice (learningforjustice.org), the educational arm of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Written in the summer of 2020. The cover art was created by David Williams, a student who connected with the content personally — and who declined payment, asking instead that his stipend be donated to an organization supporting Black youth.
"I was thinking about our discussion related to the play where the Black teen whose remote car key wasn't working and he is being questioned by police... White parents don't have to have 'The Talk' with their children." — A student, after reading The Town
The real young man whose experience inspired this play is heading to law school in the fall. Some stories demand justice. He's going to get it.
Level: Advanced | Tense: All tenses | Language: English
Please contact me directly for bulk orders (and a discount)!
English language learners and teachers, please click here to access a comprehensive word list of the text. Free!
