THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR PRESENTS A MOVING STORY ABOUT THE SUMMER THAT CHANGED A BOY’S LIFE FOREVER.
Jodi Picoult is one of the most beloved authors of our time. Her many novels, consistently topping both national and international bestseller lists ("Sing You Home," "My Sister’s Keeper," "Nineteen Minutes"), are celebrated for addressing controversial issues with courage, grace, and empathy. In her new Byliner Original, "The Color War," she showcases her versatility and storytelling gifts once again with a moving and revealing portrait of a boy coming of age in an America where the lines between black and white, rich and poor, and insider and outsider too often divide minds and hearts and separate a child from his own sense of promise.
All Raymond wants to do is hang out with his best friend, Monroe, but life has other plans. This summer, his mother has decided to send him to Bible camp for inner-city kids. On the bus there, he dreams of the best night of his life, when he and Monroe slipped away from home and jumped the turnstiles to ride the subway to downtown Boston on New Year’s Eve. The elaborate ice sculptures on display thrilled them, especially an angel with outstretched wings that glowed ghostly in the night. Raymond wakes on the bus to what he takes for another angel: Melody, a camp counselor and lifeguard. Like all the staff, she’s white. Pretty, blond, and friendly, she’s the person Raymond most wants to impress during the Color War, the camp’s sports competition, and to whom he confesses his most painful secret, a loss that has made him grow up far too fast and left him wise beyond his mere nine years.
Will Raymond manage to connect to Melody—or anyone—when he’s so far from what he’s known and loved? Or will he discover that sometimes the road to hell is paved with good intentions? A searing look at race and what it means to survive our own color wars.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jodi Picoult is the bestselling author of twenty-one novels, including "The Storyteller," "The Pact: A Love Story," "Lone Wolf," "Nineteen Minutes," "Keeping Faith," and "My Sister’s Keeper." Among her other works is the young adult novel "Between the Lines," co-written with her daughter Samantha van Leer, and five issues of the "Wonder Woman" comic-book series. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, Picoult is the recipient of the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, among others. Her volunteer work includes serving on the Writers Council of the National Writing Project, and she is active in promoting youth theater and athletics. She lives with her family in Hanover, New Hampshire.
PRAISE FOR JODI PICOULT
“Picoult has become a master—almost a clairvoyant—at targeting hot issues and writing highly readable page-turners about them.” —The Washington Post
“Picoult writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships.” —The Boston Globe
“Jodi Picoult is not one to shy away from fictional controversy; in fact, the more tangled and messy a moral dilemma appears, the better she likes it.” —The Daily Mail
“Picoult ably explores a complex subject with bravado and clarity.” —Publishers Weekly
“Picoult’s characters are so compelling that the reader hopes this won’t be the last time we meet.” —USA Today
Jodi Picoult is one of the most beloved authors of our time. Her many novels, consistently topping both national and international bestseller lists ("Sing You Home," "My Sister’s Keeper," "Nineteen Minutes"), are celebrated for addressing controversial issues with courage, grace, and empathy. In her new Byliner Original, "The Color War," she showcases her versatility and storytelling gifts once again with a moving and revealing portrait of a boy coming of age in an America where the lines between black and white, rich and poor, and insider and outsider too often divide minds and hearts and separate a child from his own sense of promise.
All Raymond wants to do is hang out with his best friend, Monroe, but life has other plans. This summer, his mother has decided to send him to Bible camp for inner-city kids. On the bus there, he dreams of the best night of his life, when he and Monroe slipped away from home and jumped the turnstiles to ride the subway to downtown Boston on New Year’s Eve. The elaborate ice sculptures on display thrilled them, especially an angel with outstretched wings that glowed ghostly in the night. Raymond wakes on the bus to what he takes for another angel: Melody, a camp counselor and lifeguard. Like all the staff, she’s white. Pretty, blond, and friendly, she’s the person Raymond most wants to impress during the Color War, the camp’s sports competition, and to whom he confesses his most painful secret, a loss that has made him grow up far too fast and left him wise beyond his mere nine years.
Will Raymond manage to connect to Melody—or anyone—when he’s so far from what he’s known and loved? Or will he discover that sometimes the road to hell is paved with good intentions? A searing look at race and what it means to survive our own color wars.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jodi Picoult is the bestselling author of twenty-one novels, including "The Storyteller," "The Pact: A Love Story," "Lone Wolf," "Nineteen Minutes," "Keeping Faith," and "My Sister’s Keeper." Among her other works is the young adult novel "Between the Lines," co-written with her daughter Samantha van Leer, and five issues of the "Wonder Woman" comic-book series. A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, Picoult is the recipient of the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, among others. Her volunteer work includes serving on the Writers Council of the National Writing Project, and she is active in promoting youth theater and athletics. She lives with her family in Hanover, New Hampshire.
PRAISE FOR JODI PICOULT
“Picoult has become a master—almost a clairvoyant—at targeting hot issues and writing highly readable page-turners about them.” —The Washington Post
“Picoult writes with a fine touch, a sharp eye for detail, and a firm grasp of the delicacy and complexity of human relationships.” —The Boston Globe
“Jodi Picoult is not one to shy away from fictional controversy; in fact, the more tangled and messy a moral dilemma appears, the better she likes it.” —The Daily Mail
“Picoult ably explores a complex subject with bravado and clarity.” —Publishers Weekly
“Picoult’s characters are so compelling that the reader hopes this won’t be the last time we meet.” —USA Today
