Zac and Jac

Nine-year-old Jac has always seen his (white) family as a solid loving unit, one dominated by his Dad, who he casts as his very own hero and role model. But when he joins a new football team which will mean him spending more time with his best friend Zac’s family, who are Black, his Dad’s behaviour becomes increasingly odd, soon escalating into outward prejudice. A dramatic turn of events leads to Jac and his own family confronting themselves and each other. A middle grade chapter book which looks intergenerational racism in the eye and yet does so with a deft, subtle touch, not least in the way in which the young reader is empowered by narrative clues to question Dad’s role in the family, seeing ahead of Jac’s own painful discoveries. A debut for Swansea-based, secondary school teacher, Cathy Jenkins, Zac and Jac was shortlisted for the Little Rebels Award 2025 and a Reading Guide is available from the award website.