Keyona Davis- Poverty, Bullying, and Trust in The Skin I'm In

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            Overall I feel that The Skin I’m In was a good book. It was a quick and simple read, and it kept me interested through the entire book. I read it all in one day and it had many situations in it that were very much relatable. I would think that this book is appropriate for students who are in middle school or the first two years of high school. I think that Sharon Flake did a good job at portraying adolescents and showing how some of them struggle with being comfortable with the way that they look. I think she also did a good job at talking about other issues that adolescents go through like poverty, bullying, and trust.
            One of my favorite characters of the book was Miss. Saunders. She was a wealthy woman who came back to teach at a low poverty middle school. She suffered with a skin disease herself, but never let that deter her from doing her job. She became close with the protagonist of the story, Maleeka, and also was there as an adult figure as someone she could confide in. Miss. Saunders told Maleeka and the rest of her students, “It takes a long time to accept yourself for who you are. To see the poetry in your walk. To look in the mirror and like what you see, even when it doesn’t look like anybody else’s idea of beauty.” (pg. 19-20) I think that this statement made by her allowed the students to realize that even though you might not be happy with the way you look now, there will come a point in your life where you will finally realize that you are beautiful despite the minor flaws.

            The protagonist of the story was also a good representation of what the modern day adolescent is like. Maleeka was a smart girl who hung around the wrong crowd of kids. It took a few times of her getting in trouble, and then a huge situation for her to realize that she wasn’t doing the right thing. I think this is very relatable to adolescents today. Some kids hang around the wrong group of peers thinking it’s cool, but when you play with fire long enough you get burned. 

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 18, 2016 at 5:17 PM

    I thought the trailer your group did was really cool, and the discussion you guys had before it about teachers being advocates for their students and being there for them like Miss Saunders is for Maleeka is really important.

    ReplyDelete
  2. StephanieDawkinsOctober 21, 2016 at 5:41 AM

    This book has become one of my favorites. I enjoyed the book as Maleeka was able to find herself and I believe that is an important time in an adolescents life. I would love to teach this book one day in my own classroom

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