This research utilized case study methodology to explore the ways in which White women pre-service teachers' perceptions of race and gender were informed by their reading of four counternarratives about Black girls and their participation in a book club. This study focused particularly on White women pre-service teachers as they make up the majority of the teaching force in the United States. Additionally, focus was given to White women pre-service teachers as the literature shows that White women tend to use "white talk" -- or ways of talking about race that allows them to protect themselves from having a conversation about race, in turn performing Whiteness. Through interviews and four book club sessions focused on counternarrative children's literature, the pre-service teachers had an opportunity to discuss their perceptions of race and gender. The findings show that while counternarratives are typically thought to be utilized to undo dominant thinking, the pre-service teachers did not experience the counternarratives as counternarratives -- the study highlights the conscious and unconscious moves made by the White pre-service teachers to find themselves in counternarrative material.