This Book is about the chocolate milk runners.

Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com

"Good fences make good neighbors." That's what Cass's dad said when he found out a black family was moving in next door. Cass even helped him build the fence. But as the new neighbors moved in, Cass couldn't help but be curious. Watching through a peephole in the fence, Cass's blue eye found a brown eye staring back at her.

Cass asked Jemmie, "Do you like to run?"

Jemmie responded, "Run? Girl, I don't run, I fly. Can't nobody beat me."

The race was on. They both sneaked out of their homes the next morning to find out who was fastest, and instead found "Chocolate Milk."

This is the story of their friendship. It's also a story of crossing boundaries, change, and eventual acceptance. Theirs is a natural friendship, a friendship that's tried by the bigotry of Cass's dad, and the stubbornness of Jemmie's mother. It takes the misfortunes of a tiny baby for the parents to begin tearing down their mental fences.

Adrian Fogelin does a beautiful job of portraying tenuous relationships that exist among people trying to understand cultures different from their own, The girls are sweet and fun; their dialogue is well-written, immersing the reader in the long, hot, dog days of summer in Tallahassee, Florida.

CROSSING JORDAN leaves the reader with hope for future generations, that they will be inspired to appreciate each other, just as Cass and Jemmie were inspired to call themselves Chocolate Milk. This is the first book of Adrian Fogelin's that I've read, and I'm sure I'll be looking for more of her titles. ( )

Sissi Carroll (The ALAN Review, Spring 2000 (Vol. 27, No. 3)
In her first novel for young readers, Fogelin writes a moving story of two adolescents females, Cassie, who is white, and Jemmie, who is African American. Through their common interest in running, and because they are neighbors (whose yard are separated by a fence through which they talk) the girls develop a friendship that even their parents' racist traditions and attitudes cannot prevent. Inspired by her actual experience in a mixed race neighborhood in Tallahassee, Florida, Fogelin gently shows the reader that negative attitudes can be absorbed by children and teenagers, and that sometimes, it is through the innocence of children that adults can learn about tolerance and appreciation for those who are racially or otherwise different. Fogelin does not paint either family as more at fault than the other; both Cassie's and Jemmie's families believ the girls should avoid contact with a person who has a different skin color. Cassie and Jemmie are talented runners who challenge each other on the track, but they are also thoughtful adolescents who support each other when their families try to keep fence between them. At no point in the book does Fogelin preach to her readers, yet her message about the negative potential for prejudices to be inherited, and the strength of teens to transcend long-established prejudices, is clear and inspiring. Genre: Overcoming racism/Young female athletes. 2000, Peachtree, $10.97. Ages 9 to 12. This book has won the following awards: This book has being n Nominated for several awards such as the Garden State Teen Book Award, Georgia Children’s Literature Awards, etc.

a great book about interacial friendship ( )