Image: Author's Website
#tbt features The Skin I'm In by Sharon G. Flake. The Skin I'm In turned 20 this past January and was Ms. Flake's debut novel. Maleeka is a seventh grader who lives with her mom, who struggles to make ends meet, but is supportive of Maleeka. Maleeka is bullied at school for her shabby clothes and her very dark skin. Her worst antagonist is Charlese, who loans her clothes in exchange for Maleeka doing her homework. Char's demands escalate though and soon Maleeka finds herself doing increasing risky things to appease Char. This emotionally intense, own-voices novel vividly depicts the pain of being bullied and the issue of colorism.
The Skin I'm In won a Coretta Scott King Award for New Talent and was named to both YALSA and Publisher's Weekly Best Books List. As mentioned yesterday in "Waiting on Wednesday," Ms. Flake has written an companion novel about Char which will release in January.
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