Having recognized this, Amy explores the issue of privilege with a great deal of vulnerability and humility. As is typical of Amy’s previous books, White Picket Fences both explores a subject academically and shares Amy’s experience with it. As a fellow parent, I especially enjoyed her reflections on things like the role books play in our privilege. In Amy’s words, “I can find a lot of books with animals and a lot of books with white children, but I can’t find any books on our shelves with characters who aren’t white… According to this bookshelf, the world is monochromatic. Lions and mice are more likely to talk than children with brown skin are to have adventures and sorrows and dreams.” Seeing this made me more aware of what’s on my daughter’s bookshelf and has led me to intentionally choose library books featuring people of color.
In many ways, White Picket Fences is not what I expected. I expected to read a book exploring privilege as it pertains to racism and to be clear, it did. Amy’s honesty about “how easily whiteness blinds me” will also make her exploration of a difficult subject more palatable to those who are ignorant of their privilege.
Because of how White Picket Fences challenged me to think about privilege differently, when someone recently asked me what the best non-fiction book I read in 2018 was, I was quick to name it. I have no doubt that whenever you read White Picket Fences it will quickly rise to the top of your best books list as well.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of White Picket Fences from the Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for a fair and honest review.