
Discussion Guide
About the Book
Paperback: 194 pages
Publisher: Reformed Journal Books & Front Edge Publishing
Publish Date: April 29, 2025
Language: English
Softcover: 978-1-64180-216-1
Hardcover: 978-1-64180-217-8
Dave Larsen has turned what at first appears to be a nostalgic tale about growing up in a close-knit Chicago neighborhood into a sharply focused challenge to polite fictions we still live by.
—Marilyn McEntyre, author of Speaking Peace in a Climate of Conflict
In the early 1960s on Green Street, a boy and his friends face challenges in a neighborhood brimming with racial change. Dave Larsen takes us back to a summer of social upheaval, when youthful mischief collided with the weight of adult fears.
Green Street in Black and White is set in Englewood on Chicago’s south side, a community like countless others across America that were marked in that era by the lively interaction of families, despite ethnic divides and the realities of integration and white flight. The story follows Erik Pedersen and his friends, the Green Street Boys, as they confront prejudice, discover solidarity, and witness the cracks in their seemingly ordinary world. As families leave, neighbors and their congregations grapple with fear. As tensions rise, Erik is thrust into a moral conflict that challenges his understanding of right and wrong.
Larsen’s historical fiction includes real events from the author’s childhood on Green Street to give a sense of the dynamics at play in neighborhoods and congregations in that era. Factual events include riding in an Irish uncle’s Chicago police car, a church hiring a seminary intern to track where Black families were moving, and even a tragic shooting that poured fuel on families’ simmering anxieties.
With heart and authenticity, Larsen captures a pivotal moment in American history for millions, as seen through the eyes of a young boy yearning to make sense of his changing world. Green Street in Black and White is a coming-of-age tale that poignantly examines community, courage, and the enduring need to face what we cannot ignore.
This novel also is ideal for group discussion and Larsen provides a free, downloadable discussion guide to help spark spirited conversation.
Author

Dave Larsen is a native Chicagoan, having spent most of his life living in or near Chicago. His interests include the history and architecture of Chicago, kayaking the Chicago river and area lakes, writing and storytelling. A regular contributor to the Reformed Journal, Dave has also published articles and reviews in The Banner, Think Christian, and Christian Scholars Review. Dave earned a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the Loyola University of Chicago, a Master of Religious Education degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Calvin University. Until his retirement, he was the Executive Director of the Bright Promise Fund for Urban Christian Education in Chicago. His faith development as a Christian was nurtured primarily in the teachings and neighborhood of the Reformed tradition. He came to a deeper appreciation of the Roman Catholic and Mennonite justice traditions through his graduate work. He and his wife Sally live in a delightful, racially diverse southern suburb of Chicago. Together they have five married children and eleven grandchildren.
Book Trailer
Endorsements
Dave raises up characters so realistic that I clearly recognize them from my own neighborhood back in the ‘60s. So, this is my story, too. And this is our story. Green Street in Black and White asks each of us the important question: What kind of character do I want to be to meet our challenges today?
—Reginald Smith, Director for Diversity for the Christian Reformed Church in North America
Dave Larsen delivers a gripping story about race, ethnicity, and religion in a Chicago neighborhood convulsing with the anxiety and violence of social change.
—Mark T. Mulder, author of Shades of White Flight: Evangelical Congregations and Urban Departure
Green Street in Black and White explores two powerful and basic themes: a young man's difficult journey from childhood innocence to maturity, and his experience of the damaging results of racism, involving fear, hate, loyalty, and destructive allegiances. Larsen conveys these themes with understanding, sensitivity, and honesty.
—Hugh Cook, emeritus professor of English at Redeemer University
I loved this book, but be warned: it not only confronts and convicts us about our past—but about our very present. What an amazing read!
—Caryn Rivadeneira, author of Saints of Feather and Fang
Wow! This story left me deeply troubled, yet surprisingly hopeful.
—Ted Williams III, professor of political science, Kennedy-King College in Chicago