The Skin I'm In

Flake, Sharon. The Skin I’m In. Jump at the Sun, 1998. Paperback $5.99 ISBN-10 0-7868-1307-5

What’s it about?

Maleeka Madison didn’t use to hate the dark skin she was born in—but lately, she has been assaulted with taunts about her blackness. Her disfigured teacher Miss Saunders helps her find her voice through her talent for writing.

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Maleeka Madison, a seventh grader being bullied because of her dark skin and because her clothes are hand-sewn by her mother, a very poor seamstress, has a bad feeling inside when she first sees her new English teacher Miss Saunders, who has a large swath of unpigmented skin across her face. Since Maleeka works full time to fit in, the last thing she needs is to be associated with her—which is a danger, since her attracts “strange characters.”  Last year, Maleeka was a good student, a nice kid who flew under the radar—until Caleb, the smartest boy in school began to express interest in her. The girls in her class began to pick on her mercilessly. The bullying escalates until the entire class taunts her. Caleb stops associating with her (which Maleeka finds out later was to protect her, not to insult her), but the torment doesn’t stop. Finally Maleeka takes the initiative to get protection by doing homework for Char, the toughest, meanest girl in her class—who has already flunked seventh grade twice. Char gives her new, stylish clothes, and gives Maleeka a tough-girl confidence. But her attitude begins to rub off on Maleeka, who begins cutting class, getting poor grades and getting in fights. Miss Saunders is undaunted, though, and works patiently with Maleeka, helping her find her voice through her writing, and accept the skin she’s in.

Flake’s debut is stunning in its spare, powerful prose. Maleeka’s voice is realistic, and raw with pain from the death of her father, the depression and grief of her mother, and the constant barrage of insults from her peers. Much of the bullying Maleeka endures is a type of racism, black-on-black racism, which is particularly harsh on women, a topic not often addressed in literature written for the middle school crowd and something that some ethnic groups may be unaware of.  Maleeka makes some incredibly bad choices, but the reader roots for her, just as Miss Saunders does, because she is full of grit, intelligence, and determination.  Her anger at herself for stressing out her mother is particularly poignant. Clearly Maleeka is a very empathic person, despite her tough act.  This book is an amazing character study not only of Maleeka, but of Miss Saunders, a woman so tormented by her disfigurement she feels the need to compensate by being the best dressed, the hardest worker, the most successful person wherever she goes. It’s no wonder this book was awarded the 1999 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent; it is a work of art, and belongs on the shelves of every library serving youth.

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Multi-cultural, Problem Novel, Urban Fiction

Reading level: 4^th grade

Interest level: Grades 5-9

Read alikes:

Myers’ Autobiography of My Dead Brother

Wolff’s Make Lemonade

Awards:

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent (1999)

Subjects: Bullying, racism, teachers, self-esteem, African-Americans

Characters:

Maleeka Madison: intelligent, troubled protagonist with a talent for writing, bullied mercilessly for her dark skin and unstylish clothing

Miss Saunders: a disfigured, passionate English teacher who patiently works through Maleeka’s tough exterior

Charlese (Char):  a tough, mean girl who lets Maleeka borrow her expensive clothing in exchange for Maleeka doing her homework assignments for her

Caleb: the smartest, most popular guy in school, likes Maleeka great deal 

Tai: a quirky teacher at McClenton Middle School, friend of Miss Saunders

The New Girl (Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls #2)

Cabot, Meg. Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: The New Girl. Scholastic, 2008. Tr. $15.99 ISBN 978-0-545-04049-5.

What’s it about?

Being the new girl is not easy, as Allie Finkle, the new girl at Pine Heights Elementary, can attest.  While she makes new friends, one scary enemy, the biggest, toughest girl in the fourth grade, Rosemary Dawkins, makes life difficult for her.  

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Allie Finkle is the new girl at Pine Heights Elementary, and while she loves her new teacher, Mrs. Hunter, and her new friends, Caroline, Erica and Sophie, who love to play the same games she enjoys, a bully, a big, tough girl named Rosemary Dawkins, teases her and threatens to beat her up. While Allie dodges Rosemary, and seeks out advice on how to deal with her from her friends and the adults in her life, she and her family are still adjusting to their new home. When Grandma comes to visit from out of town and sees that the family hasn’t received their stove yet, she orders them another one—but not the one Allie’s parents want. Feeling unappreciated, she storms out and goes to Allie’s Uncle Jay. Fortunately, Grandma’s ruffled feathers get smoothed out, and Allie gets exciting news—she finally gets to take home her new, prematurely born kitten Mewsette.  Allie’s mind is on taking care of Mewsie, so she lets her guard down regarding Rosemary. Following the advice of the janitor Mr. Elkhart, she begins to look at Rosemary in a new light.

The New Girl is a better book that the first Allie Finkle book Moving Day. The characters are more complex, and Allie is portrayed as a more thoughtful and mature kids than she was in the first book. The relationship between Allie’s grandmother and parents is interesting because it is a tense, complex relationship. The grandmother seems to have plenty of money and not a lot of patience. She expresses her frequent displeasure in passive-aggressive jibes. For instance, she tells Allie’s mother, “Don’t you look shapely, Elizabeth,” and when she hears Jay will meet them later, at dinner, she says, “Undergraduate students who are in their sixth year of taking poetry classes always have very important work to do, indeed.” She has a softer side, however, helping Allie care for her new kitten. By the end of the story, Rosemary turns out to be more complex than expected as well. The New Girl is a good exploration of friendship, bullying, and family relationships. This is a great book to hand to younger tween girls.  Allie is easy to relate to for this age group, because she is not a little girl, and still a long way from her teen years. Developmentally, she is beginning to form her own identity separate from her parents. She is actually mortified when her parents and grandmother come to her spelling bee, but she is still young enough to enjoy using her imagination in a make-believe battle between Queens and an evil warlord.

Genre: Humor, Friendship Fiction, Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Reading level: 5th grade

Interest level: Grades 3-5

Read alikes:

Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series

Paula Danizger’s Amber Brown series
Judy Blume’s Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great and the Fudge series

Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking

For a slightly older audience: Judy Blume’s Starring Sally J. Friedman as Herself, and Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret

For a slightly younger audience: Pennypacker’s Clementine series and Park’s Junie B. Jones series

Subjects: Friendship, Rules, Family, Grandmothers, Bullies, Kittens

Series information:
#1 Moving Day
#2 The New Girl
#3 Best Friends and Drama Queens
#4 Stage Fright
#5 Glitter Girls & the Great Fake Out
#6 Blast from the Past

Characters:

Allie Finkle—the nine-year-old protagonist with a penchant for rules

Caroline—A new friends of Allie’s—the smartest girl in fourth grade

Sophie—A new friend of Allie’s—pretty and in love with “Prince Peter”

Erica—Allie’s friend and next-door neighbor—a spirited gymnast

Jay—Allie’s uncle, who is studying poetry in college

Kevin—Allie’s youngest brother, obsessed with pirates

Mark—Allie’s younger brother, obsessed with dirt bikes, bugs and sports

Mrs. Hunter—Allie’s new teacher

Rosemary—Allie’s classmate—a bully who taunts Allie and threatens to beat her up