Rating: 
Summary: Powerful!
Review: Powerful! How else could one describe James McBride's moving and emotional recount of his life and the live of his indomitable mother, who refused to be defined by race, religion, or station in life? Spanning two generations, The Color of Water outlines in piercing detail the life of James McBride, yet the true essence of the work is found in his recounts of the stories and family history his mother Ruth immerses the family in as she raises her twelve children in the midst of social upheaval and discontent. Ruth, born to a Jewish rabbi in Poland, was raised in Southern Virginia before "escaping" to the sultry streets of Harlem in New York City in the 1940s, where she met and married a black man. Born to a cruel racist who despised black men and treated his daughter Ruth with disdain and violence, Ruth eventually married two black men, bore twelve children who all attended college, founded a Baptist church, and overcame all the barriers and challenges placed before her. Gripping dialogue, combined with the power of the message that inner strength and inner peace will truly define individuals regardless of the norms and mores of the day, makes this book a must-read for anyone searching for literary prowess or the triumph of human dignity over human frailty. McBride takes the reader through his life as his mother explains, "You are human," when asked what color he is. He also, however, weaves poignant passages directly from his mother about her life and Ruth's insistence her children be educated and spiritually fulfilled. The combination of these two literary paths result in a work that demands even the laziest reader take note of the power of one woman to overcome. Although upon first glance the book may appear to focus on religion, race relations, and the inner workings of a family led by a strong, independent woman, the genius and power of The Color of Water is the unyielding will of a mother to ensure her twelve children obtained an education and defined their spiritual center through the Christian church.
Rating:
Summary: A super "Mother's Day" read!
Review: "God is the color of water" was the wise response given young James by his Mother, Rachel (Ruth)Shilsky McBride Jordan, when he asked her "What color is God?" This is a moving true-life story of a family that succeeds in transcending our American preoccupation with color and ethnicity. "Color" interweaves the life stories of mother and son in a beautifully written historiography. I cried and I chuckled, reading this book during my daily commute to and from work. My fellow commuters must have thought I was schizo because I just could not contain the emotions that bubbled up. With every challenge that life meted out to Ruth Jordan she managed to survive and instill the desire to succeed in her 12 children. She overcame the difficulty of being an immigrant to this country; survived a childhood of poverty and physical abuse; triumphed over the exclusivity of religion; grieved and trudged on after burying two husbands and graduated at the age of 65 with a degree in social work administration. This book is truly a treasure and comes with my highest recommendation. Read it for Mother's Day--you'll appreciate your Mother for her own sacrifices when you've finished this easy, but poignant read
Rating:
Summary: A page turner
Review: I borrowed this book from a friend of mine who just raved over it (a Jewish white male). I'm white & my boyfriend is black. We share many values, but we certainly have some cultural differences as well. So, I figured there would be some pearls of wisdom to be gleaned here and there. I got a lot more than that and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. Mr. McBride's story reflects human reality, with all of the contradictions that go along with being true to oneself, even when the truth itself must be buried to do it. If you are interested in issues of spirituality, identity, values, sheer willpower, and, of course, motherhood and family, you must read this book. It's amazing.
Rating:
Summary: One of My Favorite Memoirs of All Time
Review: I love this book! McBride's words bring his mother to life, and you begin to feel you know this complex, zany, inspirational woman, who described her color not white, but "the color of water." Her life was full of trials, beginning with an abusive childhood. As a member of a Jewish family headed by a Rabbi in the rural south, she was already set apart from the surrounding community, but displeasing her tyrant of a father also set her apart from the family. In fact, she became "dead" to them. She continued to be an outsider throughout life, living as a white woman in a black community. This meant that in difficult times, such as the death of her husband, the only support system she had was the strength she found inside herself. Despite her trials, she never gave up, and the children she raised to be well-educated, productive members of society are her triumph and a testament to her strength. How she persevered through it all is a story you won't want to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping memoir of white Jewish mother of 12 Black children.
Review: I've never read anything like this book. A beautiful search by adult son for his mother and her family. He tells of being 1 of 12 Black children raised by a mother of initially undisclosed race and background, who told her children when they asked what color God was, "the color of water." He eventually extracts from his mother her own buried past, Jewish daughter of a Holocaust survivor, raised in the South, ran away, married a Black minister of a store front church, sustained by her new found Christianity even after husband's death, raised all 12 to go to college ("what's money matter if your mind is empty!?"), even though they often had to fight over the scraps of food available. Laughed, cried, and wondered how this could have all happened even at the same time I was growing up, not in some mythical past or poetic novel
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, Inspriational and Brilliantly written!!
Review: THIS BOOK WELL DESERVES TO BE ON THE LIST OF 100 BEST BOOKS EVER! It should be read by every highschool and college curriculum! It would be well worth reading over and over again. It touches a part of every human soul and gives insight into economical, cutltural and humanistic differences. The book is brilliantly written and as well as being an inspirational story for all mankind, provides a historical insight to the time period which may not be documented in thje text books. I was amazed by how simple, yet outstanding this story was. It provides a different look at our world than that which was familiar to me and serves as a window into emotions and minds of personalities and people growing up in the 60's. It parallels race, gender and age and relates to so many different aspects of American Society. The mother serves as an icon for motherhood, love, religion and it is unbelievable that such an astounding person is not fictional. The author takes us through the struggle and dispairment of his childhood and search for himself and his family in such a powerfully emotional style. Through all of the tribulations he faced, I always felt his extreme love of family and humanity. It is undeniably one of the classics of our time!!
Rating:
Summary: A super "Mother's Day" read!
Review: "God is the color of water" was the wise response given young James by his Mother, Rachel (Ruth)Shilsky McBride Jordan, when he asked her "What color is God?" This is a moving true-life story of a family that succeeds in transcending our American preoccupation with color and ethnicity. "Color" interweaves the life stories of mother and son in a beautifully written historiography. I cried and I chuckled, reading this book during my daily commute to and from work. My fellow commuters must have thought I was schizo because I just could not contain the emotions that bubbled up. With every challenge that life meted out to Ruth Jordan she managed to survive and instill the desire to succeed in her 12 children. She overcame the difficulty of being an immigrant to this country; survived a childhood of poverty and physical abuse; triumphed over the exclusivity of religion; grieved and trudged on after burying two husbands and graduated at the age of 65 with a degree in social work administration. This book is truly a treasure and comes with my highest recommendation. Read it for Mother's Day--you'll appreciate your Mother for her own sacrifices when you've finished this easy, but poignant read
Rating:
Summary: Escape Into McBride's Plight
Review: I read this biography over the summer during camp, when I wanted to escape from the heat (not to mention the annoyance of the little campers!). It's very easy to lose yourself in this book because of McBride's straight-to-the-point, action-packed writing style. His own autobiography and his mother's biography are brilliantly intertwined in alternating chapters, keeping readers immersed in the various parallels and general comparisons of both lives. The search for self-identity is so rich, so apparant, that almost everyone can relate to it. It also shows that the rise of poverty is possible, but also requires an endurance of obsticles along the way. Read this.
Rating: 
Summary: A question of identity
Review: James McBride, the author, knew very little about his mother's heritage before he began writing this book. One thing he did know was that she was different. Different from his father, his siblings, himself, his friends, and his neighbors. When he would ask her if she was white, she would avoid the question or answer that she was "light-skinned". When he once asked her what color God was she replied, "He's the color of water. He has no color". This is the way Ruth McBride looked at the world. When her Jewish family acted in an unloving manner towards her, she turned to black friends, who were more accepting of her. James loved his white mother, whom he calls "Mommy" in the book but was also embarrassed by her racial differences and was confused by a lack of knowledge of her roots. This book seemed to be a catharsis for him as it allowed him to contact some of his mother's relatives and old friends whom he had never met. Ruth McBride considered her greatest achievement to be the many college degrees which her 12 children earned and their professional occupations. This is an interesting story of a woman who did not ever let life defeat her and who held high educational and behavioral standards for her racially-mixed children. It is also the story of a search for identity.
Rating:
Summary: Read, Read, all about it. It's emotional and inspiriational.
Review: The color of water should be read by every high school student and by every race. The color of water is very well put together. I had a true emotional feeling when I read this book. This book is a inspiriational story for all mankind to read. The author of the book who's name is James McBride, takes us through the hard times in his life. Mr. James hits every piont of view in his book. It teaches us the true meaning of love and what family really means. Love is the keyword in the color of water. I can sit and read this book over and over again because it's just that good. The color of water should be wriiten as one of the classics of all time.
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