James McBride's The Color of Water, is a masterpiece. Using two different narrators, it is both a challenge and pleasure to read. It gives a detailed history of the time period in which the white mother, Ruth Shilsky grew up and also showed the hardships of being a Jewish White woman with mixed-race children in the Civil Rights era. The Color of Water displays the values of equality that we should all hold dear today.The lessons taught to McBride by his mother show that rather than becoming like her parents and marrying into an unloving relationship, she changes her future and in turn changes the future of her children. An excellent read.