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Black Like Kyra, White Like Me

Judith Vigna

4.06 · Rating details · 31 ratings · 15 reviews

When a black family moves to an all-white neighborhood, prejudice rears its ugly head as the white adults behave rudely and children's friendships break up. ...more

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Hardcover, 32 pages

Published March 1st 1996 by Turtleback Books (first published 1992)

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· 31 ratings · 15 reviews

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Feb 03, 2015 Alice rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 4-stars

It's Black History Month! This is a great book about Prejudice. It blows my mind. I live in a predominantly Caucasian area with Some Hispanics. White is boring. My two good friends are married to Men from Haiti who are of African Decent. Their Children are beautiful. They are smart, they are kind, they love God and a great people. Who cares what the color of their skin is.

The cool thing about where I live, even though we are mostly Caucasian we are very excepting. PLEASE I would LOVE a black f ...more

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Dec 05, 2018 Johnna rated it it was ok

The book, “Black Like Kyra, White Like Me,” primarily addresses issues of race and ethnicity. The book centers on the negative experiences of Kyra and her family living in a predominantly white neighborhood. The neighborhood treats Kyra and her family poorly because they are black and refuses to include them in the community, even going as far as to vandalize their property. The friendship between between Kyra and Christy is intended to challenge the racist views of the neighborhood. While the b The book, “Black Like Kyra, White Like Me,” primarily addresses issues of race and ethnicity. The book centers on the negative experiences of Kyra and her family living in a predominantly white neighborhood. The neighborhood treats Kyra and her family poorly because they are black and refuses to include them in the community, even going as far as to vandalize their property. The friendship between between Kyra and Christy is intended to challenge the racist views of the neighborhood. While the book challenges racism against black people, it does so in a problematic light because it fails to give the black character, Kyra, a strong voice or agency.

One question that was central to my analysis of the book is: who is marginalized or othered by the text? The text in many ways marginalizes Kyra and her family. In the beginning of the book, the author makes it clear that Kyra, prior to moving to the new neighborhood, lived in a poor area marked by violence. While in gymnastics class, Christy suggests to Kyra that she move into the “for sale” house next door to her. Christy specifically states, “Nobody fights where I live.” The book perpetuates the stereotype that most black people live in neighborhoods that are violent or dangerous., and therefore must move to “white neighborhoods,” which are perceived as safer. If I were to write an alternate version of this text, I would remove that detail about Kyra’s past neighborhood. I think it harms the purpose of combating racism and only seeks to paint white people as superior.

Addressing the latter, the book primarily serves the interests of white people. Throughout the book, I had a recurring thought that this book perpetuates the “white savior complex”. The book is told from the perspective of Christy. Christy describes all of the events in the story and she is the person who ultimately stands up for Kyra against other white people in her neighborhood. I wanted to know what emotions Kyra was experiencing, and how she perceived the events going on around her. The reader only gets a brief glance into Kyra’s perspective when she states, “It’s because I am black. My mama said some people here might not like me.” This line is also particularly powerful because Kyra states it as a fact she has accepted. I noticed in the book that Kyra did little to advocate for herself against cruel acts of the white people in her neighborhood. I think the book would have been more profound if Kyra was also an advocate for herself, as opposed to just Christy and her family trying to convince other people in the neighborhood to accept her and her family. In the book Kyra and her family are given little agency to change the circumstances around them.

Overall, the book, “Black Like Kyra, White Like Me,” fails to challenge racism against black people in a positive manner. The book reinforces stereotypes about black people and suggests that white people are responsible for advocating on behalf of black people. In order to properly tackle racism, the author should have given Kyra’s character greater agency. ...more

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Mar 02, 2017 Lauren Barber rated it it was amazing

Shelves: children-literature

The narrator of this book is unnamed throughout the entire story. She has two white friends in her neighborhood, Matt and Julie. However, her black friend, Kyra, she met at the youth center. Kyra begins to express her fears to the narrator of the current neighborhood dangers/crimes going on. The girl suggests that Kyra’s parents look at the house for sale next door to hers. Kyra’s family eventually moves into the house, in the middle of the white neighborhood. The white families around them begi ...more

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Feb 08, 2021 Jordan Vinson added it

Shelves: multicultural-books

"Black Like Kyra, White Like Me" is a wonderful book about two girls, Kyra and Christie who are best friends. Kyra is African American and Christie is white. Christie end sup learning a lesson about prejudice when Kyra moves into her area. The families begin to have conflict due to prejudice but it gets better when they develop more trust and reliance on each other.
Grade-PreK-2
Lexile-350 ...more

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Aug 08, 2020 Millie rated it it was amazing

This is a children's book that will stick in your memory because it shows the truth. When neighbors pre-judge new residents in the neighborhood, it is the children who get hurt. The story is short but beautifully told and does not sugarcoat what too often happens in our society. ...more

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Nov 11, 2016 Lesley Colin rated it really liked it

This is the story about Christy, who is a white girl who attends a gymnasium, and how she has a friend, Kyra, that is a black girl. During the time period of the book, shortly after the civil war and probably during the period of reconstruction, there was a lot of hate towards black people just like there was for Kyra and her family. Christy suggests that Kyra and her family move to her neighborhood because it was a safe place to be; however, when they settle in, they realize that their other wh This is the story about Christy, who is a white girl who attends a gymnasium, and how she has a friend, Kyra, that is a black girl. During the time period of the book, shortly after the civil war and probably during the period of reconstruction, there was a lot of hate towards black people just like there was for Kyra and her family. Christy suggests that Kyra and her family move to her neighborhood because it was a safe place to be; however, when they settle in, they realize that their other white neighbors didn't want them there which resulted in violent acts towards both families.Throughout all of this, Christy goes through a process in which she ends up losing some friends because of Kyra, but that is not important to her because she has her friend Kyra which is all that really matters.

Black Like Kyra, White Like Me falls under a historical fiction book because it is based on a historical event in the past which happens to be the discrimination that black people faced from white people shortly after the civil war. Kyra's family isn't welcomed into the neighborhood and not only did they face the violence, but so did Christy's family which demonstrates that if a white person was okay with black people than they would also face their violence. The characters within the story also behave like people during this time would behave because there was white people that were okay with befriending black people despite the anger that would be directed towards them. The conflict within the story is plausible as well because a majority of white people after the civil war were still not okay with the idea of having to share their communities with black people, and black people did face hate and discrimination like Kyra and her family did with their other white neighbors. Moreover, the story can relate to today's society in that there is still racism evident, although not as much as their used to be. It can also be used to show students the changes that have happened within the United States. ...more

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Nov 08, 2016 Elisa Samano rated it it was amazing

Black Like Kyra, White Like Me by Judith Vigna takes us to the time when black people were looked down upon by white people. This book does focus on the side of Kyra's best friend, and how much she loves her, and does not discriminate her. Kyra's best friend wonders why the neighbors don't like her Kyra's family, and why everyone must stay away from them. This story really brings to life the way black people felt when they faced discrimination.

The characters in this book do behave in a way that ...more

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Nov 20, 2016 Sonia Contreras rated it it was amazing

This story is about how friendship can overcome obstacles. In this book, a young girl named Christy is best friends with another girl named Kyra. They both attend a local gymnasium, which is how they became friends. Kyra is facing some hardships in the neighborhood where she lives, which led to her parents searching for a new home, somewhere that is safe. Christy suggests a house in her neighborhood. The only problem is that Christy is white, as well as the majority of the neighborhood where she ...more

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Dec 02, 2016 Robin rated it it was ok

Black Like Kyra, White Like Me by Judith Vigna is a multi-cultural book about two friends who met at a dance program. The main character, Christy, is white, and her good friend Kyra, is black. Kyra lives in the bad side of town where there are gun shots and violence. One day Christy's neighbor moves away, and Kyra's family moves in. The neighbor across the street is a bigot and did not like the black family that moved across the street from them. Acts of vandalism were targeted at the black fami ...more

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Dec 02, 2016 Angelique Scott rated it liked it

Vigna's "Black Like Kyra, White Like Me" tells the friendship of a young white Caucasian girl and her friend who is African-American, who eventually moves next door. In this new neighborhood, Kyra and her family face discrimination and their new neighbors are unhappy that people of a different skin color moved into the neighborhood. The angry people eventually move and everyone gets along together in the end.

I feel like "Black Like Kyra, White Like Me" was a little off. It seems like it glazed o ...more

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Dec 09, 2012 Jessie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ed-310

Very good book to talk about diversity. It was very sad and I thought that the main character of the story is a good role model.

My summary,
There is a girl who goes to gymnastics and she has an African American friend name Kyra who lives in a bad neighborhood and her parents are worried and want to move. The main character's neighborhood has a house for sale right next to her so Kyra's family decides to move in. They start being harassed and the mom explains to the little girl why the people on ...more

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Mar 30, 2015 McKinzie Elton rated it really liked it

Shelves: educ-380, family, multicultural-literature, picture-book, realistic-fiction, short-story, third-person

This picture book is about a black family that moves into an all white neighborhood. Christy, a white girl in the neighborhood, is good friends with Kyra, from the black family. Unfortunately, the black family is very unwelcome in the neighborhood, so much so that a very racist white family ends up moving away. However, the friendship between the two young girls becomes even stronger. This book could be used in a second grade classroom to talk about the physical and cultural characteristics of t ...more

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Apr 13, 2015 Emily Conradi rated it liked it

Shelves: multicultural, racism

Two best friends get really excited about the possibility of living next to each other. But when the African American friend moves into the Caucasian friend's neighborhood, trouble stirs. This is a portrayal of an ongoing and sad reality in America today.

2nd graders would benefit from this perspective of a possibly not so familiar neighborhood or community. The book would also offer opportunities for exploring safety and public rights issues. ...more

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