Looking for the Title of a book I read as a child

[Becky]

Hey, FJ friends, this is a long shot, but maybe someone can help me out here.  I am old as dirt, and I am trying to remember the title of a book I read when I was a kid.  This was probably around the late 1960s or so. The book was about a friendship between a white girl and the black girl who came to her school during integration.  They become friends but have to keep it a secret, so they meet behind the stage for lunch every day, sharing their lunches and just being friends. Of course, the adults find out and there is drama.  I think - think - one of the characters was named Sybil?  But not really certain on that.  A plot point I think I remember is the black girl wants to be a botanist when she grows up.  

This book was my introduction to race relations and the difficulties the black children faced.  I really want to re-read it and see how the story holds up after time.  It was a formative book for me.  So, if anybody else remembers this book, please let me know?  I know it's not much to go on, but I figure if the book made an impression on me, maybe it made an impression on someone else.  Y'all are great!    

[PreciousPantsofDoom]

Wish I could help with that one, but it's interesting that you read books like that too. My mum gave me a book called, "The Black and White Twins" about two little girls of different ethnicities who became friends. Would have been in the early to mid 70s when I read it. We had a number of books that I just thought were books, but looking back my parents clearly had a hidden agenda of trying to do their best to not raise little racists.

If I recall, we liked the book, but I suspect I'd find it fairly preachy if I read it now. It's also possible I would find some things in it that wouldn't be acceptable by today's standards. Kind of like how re-reading Enid Blyton books (extremely prolific British children's writer) is not the unmitigated joy it was when I was a kid. I couldn't get enough of her books when I was a kid. Now, I'm shocked by how much racism or just plain meanness is in her work.