Kid’s Book Review: Change the Game

I’ve never read a book quite like this. It is both a memoir and a graphic novel. I’m not very sporty and not particularly into things like the NFL but my dad is and he told me about who Colin Kaepernick is and then I was excited to read about him. Sport does take a central role in this book but the main subject is really about race and racial prejudice.

Racial prejudice is the main theme of the book. It talks a lot about the racism that Colin suffered including not being taken seriously as an sportsperson because of the colour of his skin. But there is stuff that is much worse than that that happens to him and it’s important that everyone understands about that. This book is a good way to teach people about how others are often suffering unfairly and I hope we see more stories like Colin’s being told. As I am white it is unlikely I will never have to experience what Colin did and this book made me understand a bit more about what it must be like to be treated this way.

I found it shocking when there was a scene where another student at his school tells a racist joke which includes the N-word. It isn’t a word I have ever seen written down so I was quite shocked but it was being used to show how bad things were for Colin and other Black people, which is really important. Another theme is decisions. There are some symbolic scenes where there are two pathways for Colin which are portrayed well using the illustrations so you can see how each decision might look. It’s really interesting seeing Colin choose between baseball and football. I don’t think it will spoil the story to tell you that he chooses football in the end.

The illustrations are really effective because they can represent a lot of things such as his thoughts and what he is looking at. Often the way it is drawn is from just behind Colin’s head so you can see things as he saw them or things he is seeing in dreams or his imagination. It almost makes you think from his eyes and inside his head.

Colin is the only real story arc but my favourite character is Colin’s dad because he has some good morals even though he can’t understand everything about Colin’s life because he is white. Colin is actually adopted. Colin’s dad is a really interesting character.

I really enjoyed this book and I thought the themes came across very clearly. I would definitely read some more books like this. I don’t read many graphic novels and when I do it is usually fiction like Dr Who or Phillip Pullman but this made me think I would like to read more graphic memoirs.

Lots of people would like to read this book. If you’re interested in the history of racism this is a good book to read. If you’re a fan of sport such as American football you’d also like it. But anyone who has been adopted, or bullied or not fitted in would probably find it interesting too. I am much more interested in the NFL now since I read the book but I have searched up Colin and have learned that there are still lots of race issues in the NFL which is sad. Maybe books like this will make that better…