Caste (Adapted for Young Adults) by Isabel Wilkerson

Caste (Adapted for Young Adults) Reviews

• 
  Linden

  This is not an easy book to read. It describes caste systems, which are reinforced by dehumanizing a group, whether in Nazi Germany, India, or America. Wilkerson states, “The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not. It is about resources—which caste is seen as worthy of them and which are not, who gets to acquire and control them and who does not. It is about respect, authority, and assumptions of competence—who is accorded these and who is not.” This book is a version adapted for young adults, and I hope many will have the opportunity to read it, since “a world without caste would set everyone free.” Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.
• 
  Thelma

  Caste is one of those books that will leave you thinking and in complete meditation for days, analyzing and thinking about what is wrong with this world or better said what is wrong with people in general, for me is incomprehensible to have such a mentality of separation and segregation.
  
  I Didn't Know racism or the word Racism until I started living in the US, such a term was not even on my radar or my culture or even while I was growing up, my parents didn't teach me separation or segregation, my parents taught me we were all the same, the soul doesn't have age, sex, gender or any other labels humans are so kin to use in order to feel more than the others.
  
  Caste is the story of how all this started, how the Nazis used racism and separation from the US so successfully with their own citizens, this was a shock to release how they took the model from a country that always presumed to be inclusive and built by immigrants but at the same time, they didn't like and accept immigrants like we all "think" it is only a portrait to look like a very advance nation but it is not.
  
  We haven't learned anything from the past we keep making the same mistakes over and over again, especially people in power who always decided and make rules thinking about what is "best" for the people when on the contrary all that they crave and want is power even if that meant to hide your heritage and become someone. 2023 and we still going through the same mistake because they have a filter in their eyes wanting to look only at a white nation, what a boring, ignorant insecure mentality.
  
  I cry so much with this book, it really made me weep reading so many terrible injustices, stories of people being intimidated, hurt, and even kill for the color of their skin pure ignorance of people who supposedly are the head of the country, the head of the most racist country in the story of this world, what a shame.
  
  Caste is a book that taught me so much, made me feel so much, made me realize so much, and made me think and grow so much. A book that I will share with everyone around and that needs to be heard and shared as much as we can.
  
  Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press, for the advanced copy of Caste in exchange for my honest review.
• 
  Lellie Reads

  I read the original Caste in 2020 and rated it 5 stars. It's brilliant and I think everyone (including a YA audience) should read it. It is so well researched and interesting and a great insight into the slave history and Jim Crow era of the United States, while also reflecting on Nazi Germany and the Caste system of India.
  
  That being said, when reading this book I noticed it sounded exactly the same as the regular, adult version. I even got out my original copy to cross reference and the book is almost exactly VERBATIM the same book, with just a few omissions and changes. Even the acknowledgements are verbatim the same. I don't know what I was expecting, but I guess I thought the YA version would have the language a bit rewritten and slimmed down to make the material more approachable for a younger audience? Why not make it simpler and add more engaging things into it? Apart from a nice new cover design that might be more appealing to a younger reader than the more adult one of the original, I don't know why a YA reader should buy this version over just reading the original book because it's basically the same book. Which is a shame because I know a lot of people who find nonfiction unapproachable, and I thought a YA adaptation would be a great way for this book to be more approachable to more people, but it's not really any different.
  
  So as for my rating, I give the original book and material a 5/5, but for an adaptation a 1/5 because it's not really an adaptation in my opinion.
  
  Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
• 
  Miss Syreena

  Appreciate this point of view of systemic racism.
• 
  Rebecca Reid

  Note: I received a digital review copy of this book, an adaptation for young adults. Also, I haven’t read the original, so these are just my thoughts on this adaptation as a book for young adults.
  
  I had only ever been familiar with the word caste in terms of the people who live in India, born into a place in the social order. It was astounding to me, then, to read Wilkerson’s argument in Caste — Adapted for Young Adults (Delacourt Press, 2022) that not only do caste systems still exist but that a unique caste system is alive and well in the United States right now. Caste, to Wilkerson, is about more than race and social class. It is about power and control. Wilkerson compares three types of caste systems through history: the caste system in India, the Nazi’s caste system rapidly created between the world wars, and the caste system in the United States.
  
  I feel like Caste should be read by everyone in the United States. It ties together some of the problems of our society into our past and shows how our own attitudes can make a difference. Wilkerson ends her book with a few personal anecdotes. The last is about how she helped make an uncomfortable situation (possibly racially motivated) into a comfortable one. It was by conversing, being personable, and simply talking. We are each a person and we have conversations. That doesn't solve the issue but conversation, compassion, and understanding are the beginning and only way toward a "caste-less" society.
  
  We live in a very divided society, and Caste is heavy-hitting. I do believe it is young adult appropriate (I’d suggest ages 16+). Younger readers may have a hard time getting into the beginning of the book, but the individual chapters are short and the many anecdotes round it out. Some content mentions include lynchings and other violent behavior, sexual relations between slaves and their masters, and Nazi Party leadership meetings. These things are disturbing. History is painful.
  
  And so, of course, not every young adult or adult will read this book. But maybe you, whoever you are reading this review, will give it a chance. Understanding race, class, and caste is not always black and white. And we can all, always, use another perspective.
  
  Full review on my blog:
  https://reviews.rebeccareid.com/caste...
• 
  Emily Yu Saalman

  Audiobook. Young adult version. Psychology of oppression. Insightful
• 
  Alicia

  Ah well, this is an example of how books are looking for a wider range of audience or a money grab and are re-packaging them as adapted for young adults. This is one that *barely* repackages itself for the intended audience and doesn't do much if anything to adjust for the intended audience. The vocabulary and concepts are still the adult ones that aren't changed and altered for understanding for a younger audience and I liked, like four stars liked, the original. I would give the original to my high school students, and not buy this adaptation in the way I wouldn't do it for
  Notes from a Young Black Chef and
  Becoming and
  The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons and an Unlikely Road to Manhood.
• 
  Jen

  Should be required reading. An eloquent, insightful and informative presentation of the realities of America’s caste system.
• 
  Anne

  If you ask most Americans about the caste system, they would probably tell you about India - or just look at you in confusion. Unfortunately the caste system is alive and well here in the United States as well. Wilkerson does a brilliant job of explaining the background of caste, the ways it is still upheld today, and its consequences on our society and especially on the subdominant caste. The revelation that the 3 societies with a caste system are/were India, Nazi Germany, and the United States is (or should be) eye opening. Wilkerson's stories and facts that she presents are both from personal experiences and well documented incidents. They are hard hitting and can be graphic, so this book is best suited to a more mature audience (high school/ possibly a mature 8th grader and above).
  I highly recommend this book as it not only opens the readers eyes to a situation that needs to be recognized but Wilkerson also offers some thoughts on how we can move forward; how the dominant caste can make changes in their behaviors, how to stand up for the subdominant caste, etc.
  This book is intense, thought-provoking, and so very important.
• 
  Megan

  Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
  
  Caste tells the history of the division between racial and class divides. This is important information for anyone to read. Despite years of caste systems being a controlling divide amongst people, this is still an issue we face today. Moreover, it appears to only be getting stronger and more divisive. Whether it’s a core belief passed down through generations, or an unconscious bias, the hierarchy of social classes is harmful and detrimental to society.
  
  All that being said, this book is supposed to be adapted for Young Adult readers. I found the information still quite dense and difficult. Although I’m sure some would find it interesting, I don’t really see the format of this book to be attractive to a broader group of young readers. I think it’s important to teach to them, but maybe there’s a better way to serve the information.
• 
  Caylie Ratzlaff

  Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novel. 4/5 stars.
  
  I will preface this with saying I haven't read the Origins of Caste (what this is adapted on), so I can't compare it between the two; however, I did find this extremely enlightening and informative. While it does discuss race as a primary method of caste, it is also an intersectional approach (and a global one with comparisons). I learned new information, and it was refreshing to see intersectionality in a text.
  
  Although I haven't read the original version, I'm not sure I would classify this as for young adults. I struggled at some areas to comprehend what was being discussed, and I had to go back and reread things multiple times. I also think the young adults in question would also need some necessary background knowledge and context.
  
  Overall though, I really enjoyed it!
• 
  Molly Dettmann

  This book looks at how caste systems have been created and perpetuated in Nazi Germany, India, and the United States. This was really dense, super interesting, but dense. For being the YA adaptation of the original (a difference of 320 pages vs almost 500) it still felt very adult in terms of tone and vocabulary. Some of the comparisons and stories I had heard of before, but many I hadn’t, and they complemented points Wilkerson was trying to make with a nice mix of famous historical figures and everyday people. How pervasive and insidious the caste systems are to our everyday wellbeing was already pretty apparent in recent years, but this book did a good job of shedding more light on it and whatever version you read, this is a recommended one on this topic.
• 
  Staci Vought

  4.25, rounded down. This was very compelling and made me think about many aspects of our history AND current situation in a new way. It was similar to “Stamped” in some ways, but it was better because it focused on current times and addressed the “elephant in the room” in a pointed, honest way. Racism is still prevalent and underlying in the white subconscious for a variety of reasons, and we need to confront that before anything can get better. The author is extremely intelligent, and she really did make me think. It is a LOT for a teenage reader & the personal, more biased examples actually detracted from her message for me personally.
• 
  Chispita Kelly

  Outstanding. A painful and necessary slog through all of the worst aspects of the American caste system. It is a challenging book to get through, but an obligation for every White person to read and learn from. For Wilkinson to have so generously put together such a thorough collection of data, anecdotes, historical evidence, statistics, moments for readers to reflect, and more in this book, in a tireless, endless push for an antiracist, casteless society, is truly mind-blowing. I think my new favorite metaphor for the issue of race in the United States is the author’s example of an old house. Incredibly insightful, stark, and yet still hopeful. Thank you.
• 
  Michelle (In Libris Veritas)

  An incredibly informative look at the underlying caste system of the US, and how it's not only shaped our entire society from its inception but also its relation to the outside world.
  
  The key differences between the YA adapted version and the normal text:
  - Some of the chapters focusing on the author's experiences leading up to the book have been excluded.
  - Some of the more detailed and visceral examples of violence against black/brown bodies have been excluded. Though there are still examples, there are far fewer.
  - Some word changes to make the text more accessible to the wider range of teen audiences
• 
  Celeste

  I loved Warmth of Other Suns, so I have been anxious to read this. Caste is a logical, fact-filled explanation of the caste system. The difference between class, race and caste is explained. She compares American slavery in the South to caste structure in India and Nazi Germany. Comfortable read-no. Necessary-yes. The vocabulary and depth of this YA adaptation might be more high school/college level. There are violent descriptions of lynchings, torture and death.
• 
  Kortny Williamson

  This was difficult to read and not a 'sit down and read for fun' type of book. With that being said, it should be required reading for every young adult. I really appreciated this version because I could not focus enough to read the original version, so thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this easier-to-read ARC.
• 
  Lindsey McDermott

  This was an amazing book. I accidentally got the young adult version but it was still plenty deep. I got so upset reading it that I had to pull over the car twice as it was an audiobook. She risks true stories of our country that I never knew and sickened me. This book is a must for our country to read if we ever want to actually be the land of the free.
• 
  Terry Lynn Corsello

  Excelleny
  
  A must read especially in this post Jan 6 era. It brings the dog whistles of the far right to the front.
• 
  madison

  an emotional by necessary read.