The Book That Shaped My World: Noughts and Crosses

by Ellie Jeynes




Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman tells the story of Sephy, who is a Cross, a member of the
dark-skinned ruling class; she is also daughter of Kamal Hadley, who is the leader of Albion, where
the book is set.

Callum is a white-skinned Nought, who gets offered a scholarship at a Cross school, but faces segregation
and extreme racism. In the course of the novel, Sephy and Callum fall in love, but it places them and their
families in terrible danger due to the racial divide in the society in which they live.

I think this novel is so important, particularly right now, because in Blackman's book white people are
marginalised and black people have racial privilege. This concept hasn't been explored before and it helps
people to realise just how significant the problems still are with regard to racism throughout the world. It
shouldn't take a race-inverted story-line to make white readers stop and think, but this book clearly shows
how racism impacts every aspect of people's lives.


Another reason I think this book is so important is how it deals with police brutality. A young man is
arrested after doing nothing wrong; he is then beaten, brutally hurt and later dies. Like the exploration of
racism in the novel, the question of police brutality has never been more relevant than right now, when
police are killing innocent people for no other reason that the colour of their skin. This needs to end and
when reading the novel I think a lot of people aren't aware that police brutality is a serious problem right
now, particularly in the United States. Reading this novel helps young people to be educated on what is
happening currently and how they can prevent it.

Leading on from that, I think this book provides so much information on how racism impacts the lives of
so many people. Having been read by so many people, it has educated many younger people in particular,
about racism and other important issues regarding politics and society. Of course, it is not the only
education children need about racism and class divides but I think is does help people realise that the
world needs to change.

I hope that, due to such education, people, including me, will be able to change the attitudes and the
behaviour which are unacceptable in any century, in particular the one we are living in right now. The
fact that the book not only shows what it is like to grow up in a society divided by racism, from the
point of view of Sephy and Callum, who are both younger, but also how racism affects others, makes it
even more poignant. Blackman shows how Meggie, Callum's mother, loses her job, leaving her family
struggling to survive, and how his brother, Jude, believes that violence is the only way things will change.
All the different viewpoints show that racism doesn't just affect some people; it affects all of our lives, in
one way or another.

I would also recommend the rest of the series, as well.

Summer reading 

For the modern novel : Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel 
For my classic novel: To Kill a Mockingbird and Brave New World

I chose these because I think they are quite well known and books that I should read before I do A- level. I have also been recommended them by many family members.


Comments