A white student, Phil, sees a black student, Daniel, wearing his brother's jacket and assumes the boy has stolen it. Daniel is righteously angry and Phil, in questioning his own actions, begins to see his entire world--including his family--in the context of racism and white privilege. it is not great literature and the story line is a little pat--Phil suddenly sees and understands subtle racism in himself, his family, his society, and in the end, he and daniel become friends. Yes, i agree--clumsy and hoky--BUT, this is a great message--a real, complex message about racism in our society that IS very complex and that occurs right now and that involves otherwise good people. The Jacket is a great book for class discussion and begs to be assigned to a 4th or 5th grade book club. The adults, in general, do not want to talk about the incident that bothers Phil so much, and with the exception of Lucy, Phil's family maid and Daniel's grandmother (a little contrived, i know!) they all fail in their response in some way--the principal, phil's mother, his father...
A wonderful book that will read well for most in the age group--a great book for encouraging a REAL discussion about racism in the age group. Realistic realistic fiction...I love Andrew Clements!
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