Title: The Skin I'm In
Author: Flake, Sharon
Publisher: Perfection Learning, 2007
ISBN-10: 978-0756984687
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: 670 Lexile
Interest Level: 11+
Readers Annotation: Being different is hard. Growing up is hard. How does one become comfortable in their own skin?
Plot:
Maleeka is teased a lot at school. She is in seventh grade, smart and has homemade clothes. She has dark black skin and the other kids tease her relentlessly. When a new teacher comes to the school who clearly has money, is confident in who she is and decides to teach in an inner city school. Ms. Saunders is her name and she is a beautiful woman but she is a black woman with a big white birth mark on her face. She gave up the corporate world to teach children. Despite the birthmark, Ms. Saunders is happy in her skin. Maleeka starts to ask questions about why Ms. Saunders is teaching and how she is comfortable with herself. Can Maleeka find out how to accept herself for the smart but not wealthy girl she is?
Review:
This book looks at the pain teasing can cause as well as the strength that can come with overcoming your fears and become the best person you can be. The characters in this book are not privileged students and many of the people in their lives do not care what happens to them. There are many whose families are broken and many get made fun of. Maleeka grows into a confident person who learns that everything is not what it seems. She does gain popularity by dating a popular boy which is not consistent with the other messages in this book, but tween will relate to the feeling that loving oneself is not always easy.
Similar Materials:
Speak- Laurie Halse Anderson
Monster- Walter Dean Meyers
The Skin I'm In Discussion Guide
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