Color Me In

July 1, 2019
Schisms abound in the life of a half-black, white-passing, Jewish teen in New York City. Since her parents separated, 15-year-old Nevaeh and her mother, who is deeply depressed, have lived in Harlem with her mother's family, headed by her Baptist pastor grandfather. Not to be pushed out, her religiously unobservant father has set Nevaeh up with a rabbi to prepare for a slightly belated bat mitzvah. But rather than help Nevaeh feel more connected to her Jewish heritage, having to study Torah with elementary schoolers just adds to the disjointedness in her life. Her black cousins think she doesn't understand their struggles, and wealthy kids at her fancy school treat her with derision. Her best friend, Stevie, is the one person who gets her, but when she starts dating Jesus, a neighborhood boy (his name's pronounced the Spanish way--and there is not enough angst or Jewish humor paid to that irony), and spending more time pursuing a new passion, poetry, tensions arise. Sophomore year is fraught for Nevaeh, and for the most part debut author Díaz wields it smoothly, save for one forced plot device in the form of her mother's old diary. In Díaz' skillful hands, the many aspects of Nevaeh's intersectional identity are woven together so that they are, as in real life, inextricable from each other. Broadly appealing and free of the melodrama often associated with half-this, half-that issue books. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2019

Gr 8 Up-Sixteen-year-old Naveah isn't seen by her peers as African American because of her light skin. When her parents separate and she and her mother move in with her grandparents in Harlem, Naveah is forced to recognize that her relationship with her racial identity is complex. As her father watches her relationship with her mother's Baptist family grow, he chooses to complicate matters by deciding that, instead of having a Sweet 16 party, Naveah should celebrate the Bat Mizvah she was never encouraged to have when she was younger. Meanwhile, in Harlem, Naveah begins a relationship with Jesus and struggles with her relationship with her cousins. Her cousins are very aware that because Naveah "passes" she is able to opt out of conversations about race while they cannot. In the midst of all this, Naveah learns some uncomfortable truths about her mother's past. While the author attempts to use journal entries to explain past events, the narrative complexity of the events does not translate well to the journal format and as a result, the narrative is not completely successful. In spite of that, this story of a young woman struggling with her multifaceted identity and the privileges that come with it fills a gap in teen fiction. VERDICT A worthwhile addition to any collection where contemporary realistic teen fiction is in demand. Recommend to fans of Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X.-Kristin Lee Anderson, Jackson County Library Services, OR

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.