This historical middle grade novel written in free verse, set against
the backdrop of the desegregation battles that took place in Houston,
Texas, in 1972, is about a young boy and his family dealing with loss
and the revelation of dark family secrets.
Ten-year-old Paulie Sanders hates his name because it also belonged to
his daddy-his daddy who killed a fellow white man and then crashed his
car. With his mama unable to cope, Paulie and his sister, Charlie, move
in with their Aunt Bee and attend a new elementary school. But it's
1972, and this new school puts them right in the middle of the Houston
School District's war on desegregation.
Paulie soon begins to question everything. He hears his daddy's crime
was a race-related one; he killed a white man defending a black man, and
when Paulie starts picking fights with a black boy at school, he must
face his reasons for doing so. When dark family secrets are revealed,
the way forward for everyone will change the way Paulie thinks about
family forever.
The Colors of the Rain is an authentic, heartbreaking portrait of loss
and human connection during an era fraught with racial tension set in
verse from debut author R. L. Toalson.