Name: The Skin I'm In
ISBN: 9780786813070

Sharon Flake

Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher with a birthmark on her face and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like.

The Skin I'm In

Lynn Braden

Maleeka is tired of being teased because her skin is so dark, but when a new teacher arrives at school that has a white patch on her face, Maleeka thinks maybe Ms. Saunders has it worse than she does. As she tries to navigate school, Maleeka hides behind a popular girl, remaining her friend by doing her homework and borrowing her clothes. Slowly, though, under the influence of Ms. Sanders, Maleeka starts to see that she has worth when she finds courage enough to get a more natural hairstyle and begins writing a fictional diary of a girl that has been captured into slavery, making her way in a ship across the Atlantic. However, Maleeka's problems get worse before they get better.

The Skin I'm In is a very timely novel even though it was written more than 20 years ago. The issues that the characters face in this book are not only include dealing with race but also with just being a kid in middle school. The slave girl's diary entries that Maleeka writes are not only insightful, but they also mirror the feelings and experiences that most affect Maleeka in the present. Overall, The Skin I'm In is a serious story that reflects serious issues.

The Skin I'm In

Reviews

Highlights