The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson

This is a sweet story of two girls living in the segregated south. The girls are both given the same warnings and rules from their two mothers. They live similar lives on their own side of the fence that divides the two young children's worlds. One side is for white people and one side is for the blacks. Their curiosity and innocent lack of understanding the ignorance of their adult world, leads these two friends to each other.
Our current world is not without the racial divides, cultural misunderstandings and social injustices that Woodson addresses so peacefully in her  book. I have read this book for the past two years to my fourth grade class and I am looking forward to reading it again this year. The story is easy to follow and elicits many strong reactions from children. Some with no understanding that the country was ever as it is described by Clover. Still others immediately relate to the messages their parents have relayed to them verbally and physically. I typically use this book as an example of historical/realistic fiction and tie in the historical changes of our state and country as well as addressing CCSS RL4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g. a character's thoughts, words or actions).
I have found that The Other Side is a book that leads to conversations that are organic and allow children to go as deep as they are comfortable with the topics of racism and social injustice. I have asked my children to journal about the conversation one of the two girls would have with their parents to convince them why it should be OK for them to be friends. After reading their entries I saw that children are not ready to accept this as a reality and hopefully never will.
This is a link to a lesson for addressing racial identity:lesson plan