Book Review: Noughts And Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Have you ever read one of those books? The ones where you are one person at the
start of the first page and then a different person by the time you get to the
last page? Malorie Blackman's 'Noughts And Crosses' is one of those
books.
This book grips you from the beginning and will not let go until
the last full stop. You find yourself saying, "Just one more chapter."
And before you know it you have finished the book.
The characters become so real that even when you aren't reading the book you are still thinking
about them as if they are your friends.
The book totally turns everything you think you know upside down and inside out and leaves completely gobsmacked. It literally takes your breath away.
Malorie Blackman expertly tackles the very painful subject of racism while also dealing with
loyalty, confusion, forbidden love, hate, family, friendship and trust.
The story follows the friendship and love between a black girl called
Sephy who is a Cross, the superior race, and a white boy called Callum who is a
Nought, the lesser race. They live in a society that dictates that black is
right and white is wrong. In a world that is divided by the colour of your skin,
their friendship is tested again and again. As they grow up they discover much
deeper feelings for each other than friendship and find themselves fighting the
prejudices of society but this comes at a price. In addition to the stigmas
society has placed on the colour of people's skin, Sephy and Callum also find
themselves fighting the hatred that their families hold for one another because
of the past. And with the shock ending, the book leaves you reeling and craving
more.
This book really makes you think about the cost of racism and how
it affects peoples lives. Racism causes hatred and hatred can kill.
Discrimination causes suffering. It is wrong to hate someone just because of the
colour of their skin and this book deals with this issue magnificently. Malorie
Blackman pulls the rug out from under your feet and challenges you from the
start leaving you speechless.
'Noughts And Crosses' is THE treasure of our generation.