Set in a time of discrimination a young city boy named Michael was riding the bus with his mother when he got thirsty, he quickly rushed for the fountain but the water was disgusting. He saw a white boy drinking water and was curious as to if his big gulps were because the water was noticeably better. One day he goes to the city and tries the water from the whites-only fountain, where he was shocked that the taste was the same. When he falls after being caught he notices the pipes are connected and it is, in fact, the same water. This book is important to teach the history of segregated time and teach diversity. It teaches to question society and authority if things seem unfair. The plot of this book of benches, water, and simple daily living items we take for granted are seen as labeled for race in this book and allows all readers including the young to empathizes with people of these times and shows the curiosity and innocence of children in this time. This was a greatly developed book and the illustrations were great. ( )

This book sheds on the life of a boy living in the time segregation. The book depicts a life of a boy and his say going into town. We see different life was for him, things we would take for granted. Like example sitting on a bench, or even drinking water from a fountain. I truly enjoyed this book and the end was adorable. ( )

1. Summary- This book is based back when there was black and white water fountains, restrooms, and when the blacks had to give up their seats to the whites. This boy always sees the "white's only" water fountain and thinks that it is probably way better tasting than his water. He always thought that his water was gross, hot and tasted like dirt. He kept having the urge to drink it. So one day, he did. When he tasted the water, he realized that it tasted just like his water fountains water.
2. Personal Reaction- Even though this book is based back when there was segregation, I enjoyed the moral of the story. The moral of the story to me is that the grass is not always greener on the other side. The water only looked better because he was not allowed to drink it.
3. Classroom Extension Ideas- I could use this book in the classroom when talking about segregation and the way things used to be back then. Also, i could use it when talking about wanting something only because we couldn't have it. This book would be a great tool to use when dealing with this topic

A little boy named Michael was determined to drink from the white water although he knew that he wasn't allowed to because he was African American. Michael thought that the white water tasted different from the one that he was drinking from and every time he tried to drink from the other fountain someone caught him.

A young boy begins to wonder what the difference between the colored water fountain and the white water fountain really was, and for the life of him can't stop thinking about that "white water". When finally works up the nerve to drink the white water he realizes something shocking, the fountains water is the same as the colored fountain. Ages 6-11