The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake

By -

The Skin I’m In by Sharon G. Flake




I’m making it a point to read classics written by Black authors this year and The Skin I’m In is the first for this year. It’s the story of Maleeka, a young girl in seventh grade who is constantly harassed because of the darkness of her skin and bullied because she’s poor. She is constantly being manipulated by other girls in her grade and it’s taking a toll. When a new teacher comes to her school, with a scarred face the kids find another target. But this teacher, Ms. Saunders, takes a liking to Maleeka. Intimidated and angered by this at first, Maleeka rejects her kindness. Overtime things change but Maleeka has to find her own strength before she can stand up to her abusers.
This book has been sitting on my bookshelf screaming to be read for at least a year. Now that I’ve read it, I have a lot of emotions. This book is so painful because it hints at the worst part of people and how some of those traits can appear in young people. Kids can be cruel. Unfortunately a lot of people, especially children, attack those they sense are weakest or those that are different. Maleeka was the darkest child in her school and the other students relentlessly teased her about it. Her mother began making her clothes after her father died, and the shabbiness of her appearance gave kids another reason to attack. And through it all she is trying to find her own voice, be brave and stand up for herself. It isn’t an easy journey. It never is for anybody and this book lays it all bare and takes us on this journey with this young girl in a cruel situation just trying make it through.
I really enjoyed this book. It is incredibly well layered. Not only does it deal with classism and colorism, but it also takes a look at the school system and how one person trying to make change has a lot to overcome. In many instances they even get push back from their peers who may have given up or simply like things the way they are. Reading this young adult book as an adult it’s easy to catch the nuance with so many of these situations. It’s also easy to remember how brutal middle school was and how hard it was to navigate and develop when there were so many outside forces interfering. This book does a great job with making children feel seen. I feel like it has the power to really speak to young adults and let them know they are not alone. This is something they may battle with but they have to overcome. Acceptance starts by looking in the mirror.
                I highly recommend this novel. It’s a quick read, but full of complex issues. The world building and character development is extremely well thought out. I loved Flake’s writing and really appreciated the way she crafted the story. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History's First Global Manhunt by Steve Johnson

By -
Image
Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History's First Global Manhunt by Steve Johnson Bringing to life the story of a notorious pirate to a modern audience isn’t an easy task. We’re too used to the comfort of easy travel, the mythos of pirates and the commercialized imagery produced by movies and television. Images of Jack Sparrow and Long John Silver have been part of entertainment for so long that the idea of true piracy and all it’s ruthlessness has almost been washed away. It isn’t until you’re able to wash away the false images and submerge yourself into the actual history that you can see piracy for it’s truly brutal nature. It also brings up many questions about governments, laws, corporations, scandal, colonization and other factors that allowed piracy to flourish and exist in the manner that it did for so long. Piracy didn’t exist in a bubble. Enemy of All Mankind takes the story of one pirate, who helped usher in the Golden Age of Piracy, and exa
Read more

Odetta: A Life in Music and Protest by Ian Zack

By -
Image
Odetta: A Life in Music and Protest by Ian Zack          In my case it is always the image of Odetta that comes to mind when I hear her name. The tall, undeniably Black woman, hair in an afro, guitar in hand. It must be that I simply did not know enough about her life, her struggle, and even her music to convey more than that image. But her image is memorable and her presence something not easily described. This book fills in the gaps in the story of Odetta that I didn’t know. Looking back at my childhood, her most memorable songs are the ones I’ve known most of my life, singing in my school’s chapel along with hundreds of other Black students, the words having meaning that I can only truly comprehend decades later as a Black woman.          Zack takes his time with this biography, letting the readers learn as much about Odetta as we do the time from whence she came. Her migration from Alabama to California, her feelings of coming from a loveless, forced marriage,
Read more

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

By -
Image
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood I’m going to cut right to the chase. This book is well written but we didn’t need it. I expected more. I wanted more and this fell flat. I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale , more than once, and I genuinely enjoyed it. The single narrative of Offred lent itself to the story well and it was genuinely a terrifying society. I watched the first two series of the show and though I have my reservations about it, I still thought it was a good show. It does a great job answering questions that the book could not because of its singular narrative. It filled out the world. This book revolves around three narratives: Aunt Lydia, who we know had a helping hand in stripping women of their sense of self and molded them to be controlled by the men of Gilead; Agnes, raised in Gilead with a Commander as father, privileged and set to marry well; and Daisy, a teenager raised in Canada hating Gilead and the abuses women endured that she’s learned about since she
Read more