The war between the classes

The war between the classes - Gloria G. Miklowitz



This book tells about a Japanese girl who has an relationship with a white boy and an Color game in their class.

Emiko Sumoto is a 17 year old middleclass Japanese girl. She has a relationship with a white rich boy called Adam
Tarcher. Her father is against this relationship because his afraid of his daughter and doesn’t trust the whites.

At the beginning of the book Amy, so Emiko is called by her friends and Adam go to the school ball. Amy’s father
wants her to be home at one a clock right after the ball. On the ball Adam’s friend speak stupidly to Amy. Amy doesn’t
like Adams friends but she doesn’t say a word about it. But after the ball Amy and Adam forget the time and Amy
comes home after two in the night. Her father is very angry and therefore Amy isn’t allowed to see Adam for a week.
She calls him and tells it to him But they decide to be together in school every day. After telephoning she and her
parents go to visit her brother Hideo. Her father hasn’t talked to him over a year because he had married a white
woman named Sue. At the dinner Sue tells that she is pregnant.

The next week in school they start a Color game in Amys and Adams common class. Her teacher Otero explains them
how it works: it lasts for four weeks. There are four colors: The blue the highest, the dark greens, the second highest, the
light greens and the oranges which are the worst. They have to pick out there color out of a bag. Then they get a band
which they’ve to wear 24 hours a day and some play money. The lower colors must do what the higher colors want
them too and if they obey they have the chance to be promoted otherwise they can be demoted. They also have to
take a journal with them in which they’ve to write their experiences with the game which Otero collects each week.
They’ve also to report if somebody of the lower colors disobey. There are also guards, the G4’s who watch what they
are doing and control if they disobey. They have to pick their color out of a bag. Amy picks blue and Adam orange. So
they aren’t allowed to talk with each other anymore without being punished. There’s also a difference between boys
and girls. The girl are called Teks and have a higher position than the boys, the Non - Teks. So Amy is in the highest
position and Adam in the lowest one.

At first Amy enjoys being a blue. So she can order the others like Adams friend Justin around whom she doesn’t like.
She likes to have power now and is listened to by everyone. She also isn’t punished as she talks to Adam. Only Adam
has to pay with his play money for it.

But then she doesn’t like it anymore because she isn’t allowed to talk to Adam and to her other friends. Only to the
blue ones. So she tries to restore to contact to her friends. She calls her friend Carol, which is a dark green one and asks
her to go shopping like they did in former times. But Carol wants to be promoted as a blue and she can’t if she’s seen
with a blue one. But finally she accepts it. They go to the mall and Carol wears her band though they’ve said that they
wouldn’t wear it. And then they meet Brian, one of the G4’s he wants to see Carols band and journal and writes Amy
down as she says that she had intentional left her band at home. After shopping she goes home and thinks about it.
She colors a poster: All Colors Unite. She calls her friend Juan, who’s a light green to help her and together they go to
hang up the poster in the school at night. She also eats again with her friends in lunchtime and she starts to bow to the
lower colors which they would have to do to her. Brian sees that and writes it down. In the next lesson. The G4’s accuse
the Oranges to had hung up the poster. But Amy stands up and says that she had done it and also Juan does. So after
all she had done she got demoted to an Orange and Juan too. Amy is now happy because she’s now again together
with Adam and her friends. Together they decide to make a rebellion to make all colors equal. They want to make
bands which include all four color, write posters and distribute pamphlets.

Also in this time Amy starts to contradict Adam, not to do anything for him. She also dares to contradict to her father as
Sue loses her baby. She cries to him that he couldn’t be nice to her. After that they visit Hideo and Sue and her father
tries to show affection for the first time.

At Juan’s house they make the four colored bands and produce the posters. As they’ve finished the G4’s Brian and
Mary come and want to take away their bands. But Amy protests and the others agree and load in the bands into the
cars. In school they put the bands into the lockers but when they want to get it they’re gone. But Gwen, a blue one
helps them. She has procured a bag with a red band. They cut it and distribute it to all pupils and finally they know that
they’ve won.

At the last day of the color game they mad a beauty contest for the boys and the boys see how terrible it is to be treated
like a piece of meat. Then they are allowed to give away their bands. Then they embrace the teacher and all are glad to
have come through this hard time.

Also Amy’s father had changed in this time. He said that Adam could come to them for dinner and it with them together
with Hideo and Sue. Amy is very happy about it.

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