Do you like stories of love, family and overcoming? Are you interested in learning about the life of a woman who broke down the barriers of race, religion and gender? So, we invite you to read the book The Color of Water by the writer James McBride.

This book is an autobiography that alternates between telling the authors life story and that of his mother, Ruth. Ruth fled her Jewish family and married Jamess father, a black man. Ruth turned away from her oppressive father and renounced her Jewish heritage. Ruth and her first husband had eight children together (the youngest being the author James) before he died suddenly of lung cancer. Ruth later married an older man named Hunter Jordan, who raised her children as his own, adding four more to make a dozen. James recalls a chaotic but generally happy childhood. He never knew his biological father, but he sees Hunter as his father. However, Hunter dies when James is fourteen, and the whole family begins to fall apart.

James also chronicles his own challenges growing up in the 1960s and 1970s as a mixed-race child of a white Jewish mother. He deals with confusion about his racial identity, poverty, drugs and racism. He looks for answers in music, religion and journalism. He finally manages to come to terms with his past and honor his mothers legacy.

The Color of Water is a moving, inspiring and honest book that will make you reflect on the meaning of family, love and identity. It is a tribute from a son to his white mother, who taught him that the color of water is the color of God.