The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. White

This is a story about two little girls who develop a friendship despite a racial divide. The young African-American narrator, Clover is instructed by her mother to never climb over the fence that she lives beside. This fence is what segregates her town and her mother tells her that climbing over the fence is unsafe. She plays in the yard next to the fence everyday and one summer morning she notices a little girl looking at her from the other side. Throughout the story the reader sees how curious the little girls become of one another and eventually the two young girls gather the courage to introduce themselves. In order to follow the rules of the fence, they decide to just sit on top of it with one another rather than climbing over to one side and risking getting in trouble. Other children see this and stare at Clover because she is sitting next to a white child. Clover pretends not to notice the other children's strange reactions and over time the fence is out of place, not the friendship.

This book should be in every library media center because of the message it sends to children of all cultures. It is critical that children be taught at a young age not to "judge a book by its cover." Children should realize that just because someone looks differently than they do, they should still open up their mind and heart and get to know them. This book is such a heartwarming story about diversity to include in the library for elementary students.