THE SKIN I’M IN BY SHARON FLAKE
Bibliographic Information:
Author: Sharon Flake
Title: The Skin I’m in
Copyright: 1998
Publisher: Hyperion Books.
ISBN: 978-1423103851
Summary: Maleeka has low self-esteem due to her darker skinned complexion. Kids tease her at school about her dark skin, as well as her clothes, which of course has a negative effect on how she views herself. Maleeka thinks she has it tough until she encounters the new English teacher Miss Saunders. Miss Saunders has a rare skin condition that makes her skin blotchy; however, she doesn’t let the appearance of her skin hinder her from feeling good about herself or make her feel self-conscious due to other people’s stares and nasty comments. If Miss Saunders can love herself despite her appearance than maybe Maleeka can too. The underlying theme in this story is how important it is to love and accept yourself for who you are flaws and all.
Critical Evaluation: This is a great book especially for girls! One of the most powerful underlying messages that is present in the book is: to love yourself no matter what, flaws and all. Another theme that appears to be present is that self-love and acceptance is much more important than social acceptance. The author does a good job of demonstrating how cruel kids can be teasing someone (in this case Maleeka) about the clothes they wear, how their hair looks, the color of their skin etc. Unfortunately, the plot is predictable ;however, it is hard not to root for Maleeka as she, with the help of her teacher, is learning how to love herself and stand up for what is right. There were a lot of chapters in this book, which did seem a little overboard but a great book nonetheless.
Reader’s Annotation: Will Maleeka ever be able to love the skin she is in?
Author Information: Sharon G. Flake is an African American author. She was both born and raised in Philadelphia. Before she became an author, she was working in foster care, and family and community services. After leaving that field, she joined the public relations department of the University of Pittsburgh Press. While she worked for the press she wrote “The Skin I’m In”. Her first book, “The Skin I’m In” has received many awards including: the YWCA Racial Justice Award, the Coretta Scott King award, and the John Steptoe award for New Talent.
In addition to winning those awards, this book was named a YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, a New York Public Library Top Ten Book of the Teen Age, and one of Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the year. She has written several other books such as “Money Hungry”, “Begging for Change”, “Bang!”, “The Broken Bike Boy”, and “Queen of 33rd Street”. Flake’s novels and short stories are often centered around issues that teenagers and young people alike often go through.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sharon-g-flake
Genre- Fiction
Curriculum Ties– English
Book Talk Ideas: Self-acceptance
Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 9-12
Challenge Issues & Defense Preparation:
Selection Policy: http://ccclib.org/policies/CollectionDevelopmentAccess-1999-11-16.pdf
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/intfreedom/librarybill/lbor.pdf
Book Reviews:
Rationale:
Bibliographic Information:
Author: Sharon Flake
Title: The Skin I’m in
Copyright: 1998
Publisher: Hyperion Books.
ISBN: 978-1423103851
Intended Audience: The intended audience is young adults specifically the upper grades of 9-12. This particular book would be beneficial for an English or social studies class. Primarily the book will be used for individual study in which every member of the class should read the book, and then afterwards there can be a group discussion of what transpired in the book as well as observations and thoughts concerning the book. “The Skin I’m in” can be utilized to promote self-love and acceptance as well as discuss bullying.
Summary: Maleeka has low self-esteem due to her darker skinned complexion. Kids tease her at school about her dark skin, as well as her clothes, which of course has a negative effect on how she views herself. Maleeka thinks she has it tough until she encounters the new English teacher Miss Saunders. Miss Saunders has a rare skin condition that makes her skin blotchy; however, she doesn’t let the appearance of her skin hinder her from feeling good about herself or make her feel self-conscious due to other people’s stares and nasty comments. If Miss Saunders can love herself despite her appearance than maybe Maleeka can too. The underlying theme in this story is how important it is to love and accept yourself for who you are flaws and all.
Relationship to the Program: The relationship of the book to school objectives would be helping 9th graders develop their literal and inferential understanding skills and comprehension skills. Through reading this book they would learn SLE # R.9.9.1 Connect own background knowledge, including personal experience and perspectives shaped by age, gender, class or national origin, to determine author’s purpose. R.9.9.5. Draw inferences from a sentence or a paragraph (including conclusions, generalizations and predictions) and support them with text evidence. Concerning summary and generalization students will utilize R.9.9.8 Summarize and paraphrase structures in informational and literary texts, including relationships among concepts and details. Concerning analysis and evaluation students will utilize R. 9.9.11 Recognize and define various points of view (e.g., omniscient narrator, third person limited) and R. 9.9.13 Identify and discuss a position using concepts gained from reading (e.g. debate, discussion, position paper, etc.).
http://www.fayar.net/edvision/language/09_reading_0405.pdf
Impact: I think this book would have a great impact on both students and their attitudes and behaviors. Through this book, the teens can be encouraged to accept themselves for who they are. They will be able to see (from the outside looking in) how hurtful bullying can be, and why it isn’t good to participate in that type of behavior. Students will be able to gain more confidence to love and accept their own flaws no matter what they might be.
Why Included: I think that this is a book that every teen needs to read. Teens struggle sometimes with low self-esteem too so this book would be great especially for girls. Right now society tend to portray only certain types of girls as beautiful. Teenage girls need to know that they are beautiful despite what society may say.
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