Call Me By My Name

Despite the prejudices of their late-sixties small Louisiana town, Rodney Boulet and his twin sister Angie befriend African American boy Tater Henry. But their friendship is tested as Rodney and Tater become star football players, Tater and Angie grow closer, and desegregation moves into effect. Narrated with Rodney's sensitive and observant voice, the story's tension is nicely sustained through the emotional conclusion.

John Ed Bradley, a seasoned sports writer who played football for Louisiana State University, vividly portrays high school football and small town culture in the 1960s and ’70s. The first-person perspective reveals Rodney’s well-meaning intentions, but also his ignorance and bias. For instance, after spending the summer sneaking Tater into the whites-only pool to give him pre-dawn swimming lessons with his sister Angie, Rodney is shocked to see Angie kiss Tater on the cheek after a football game and can’t believe that she may have feelings for him. Thoughtful passages about race are juxtaposed with energetic scenes of football games and teenage life. After observing the differences between his team and their opponents from “the largest, richest, and whitest school” in the district, for example, Rodney excitedly describes Tater scoring a touchdown: “He had to beat at least six of them, and he did so with moves I’d never seen from a high school kid before. He hurtled the last of them and came down on his feet.” Spanning multiple decades, the novel shows the evolution of race relations. As a kid, Tater is taunted by the boys on Rodney’s all-white baseball team, and Rodney has to protectively escort him out of the park and tell him he can’t play. By senior year of high school, though, Tater is a star athlete on his integrated football team, and dreams of becoming “the first black quarterback to ever play for LSU.”