The Skin I'm In

The book is filled with fear hatred love bullies and everything we could not live with out I think this sets a great example what things were like during the civil rights movement I think Mandela is feeling that same way too.

Too short!! I was entrigued by all the characters in the book, the author gave us the behind the scene view/reason for some of the toughness of the kids e.g. Char and other like John John. The trials and tribulations that Maleeka and .Ms. Saunders went through was so believable to real life. It made me think about communication and how it is so important.

I read this book in elementary school and I remember relating alot to the main character since I am a dark skin African American woman. When I was growing up dark skin was considered ugly and unwanted. Later I learned to appreciate my skin tone and I believe this book helped me start that journey. I recently bought this book for a younger brother of mine who is conflicted about his skin tone. I hope that it will help him as well.

I would most definitely recommed this book to anyone. By no stretch of the imagination am I an adolescent, but someone mentioned the book to me and I was immediately interested. No matter who you are, what age or race, everyone can benefit from reading the story. It teaches a wonderful lesson in self-esteem and self-love.

I would most definitely recommed this book to anyone. By no stretch of the imagination am I an adolescent, but someone mentioned the book to me and I was immediately interested. No matter who you are, what age or race, everyone can benefit from reading the story. It teaches a wonderful lesson in self-esteem and self-love.

To all of those out there with insecurities, learn to love yourself. Accept people for who they are flaws and all. I like that this book discusses the trials that a dark skinned and intelligent African American goes through. The lighter skin being preferred in the black community is still common and dark skinned girls have gone to the extremes of bleaching their skin. Teasing and taunting is still a big issue in school. You can't be too smart, dumb, skinny, fat, shy, or anti-social. Being different gets you made fun of. Learn to be your own kind of beautiful.

The main characters in this story are,

Maleeka

- Is the main character in this story. Maleeka has darker skin then most people at her school and no one is going to let her forget that. She isn't very popular at school and depends on a popular girl, Char, to give her cool clothes in return for doing her homework. Maleeka is an excellent writer and throughout the story you get to read bits of her diary account about a slave girl called Akeelma.

Miss Saunders

- Is born with a white blotch on her face, which stands out like shiny gold in dirt. Miss Saunders sure acts like it is. She doesn't care what people think about her face. She s a businesswoman with attitude, so she doesn't get on with Char, the most popular girl in school, who acts like she owns the world and rules all the people.

Charlese

- Has no parent so she lives with her older sister who throws parties all the time and sells designer stuff for half the price. Char is really mean to Maleeka and always has something bad to say about her. She always gets bad grades so she makes Maleeka do her homework or she wouldn't let her hang out with the cool crowd. They do a swap each morning, homework for clothes. Char is always getting in trouble. Once, when a P.E teacher failed her she cut a hole in the top of her convertible.

Plot

Maleeka's life is terrible. She's getting teased for being black by black kids her own colour! To make matters worse, when her dad died her mum took to making clothes. She made lots, but the problem was, they weren't very good.

So when Maleeka sees Miss Saunders, she's shocked, here is someone who, she feels, is worse off then she is. Miss Saunders skin is blotched with a white mark but she is tough and Maleeka starts to look to her as a role model. Can Maleeka ever learn to love the skin she's in?

Good things about it

My favourite part was when Maleeka finally realized who she really was and that she could accept that. I liked this book because it shows that beauty is not just skin deep.

Bad things about it

I think that sometimes Maleeka complains too much. Her complaining made the reader feel bad and it made it boring.

I recommend this to children over 11 since most children under 11 wouldn't understand some of the things they do in the story.

`A powerful and inspirational story of true courage'

Malorie Blackman

:)

Imagine you are an African American girl going to school everyday, getting picked on by another African American girl because you don't have a lot of money so your family makes your clothes. But, that doesn't bother you a lot. So you live everyday life. Well, that happens in the book The Skin I'm In a novel by Sharon G. Flake.
Maleeka Madison is a very honest and powerful girl. Her teacher is Miss Saunders. Miss Saunders has marks on her face so kids don't really "like" her, but she is really kind. Maleeka grows strongly to love herself and how she looks and dresses. A girl named Char is always picking on Maleeka, for the way she dresses.
The main event in The Skin I'm In is when Maleeka comes to school with new clothes and her hair done all nice and she looks beautiful! But, Char thinks that she is only trying to act "cool", so she can fit in. Char thinks that she doesn't look "cool" enough. I think that she is saying that because, she is jealous. Char is kind of a bully to Maleeka because she shouldn't just make fun of her for a reason Maleeka just can't help.
My opinion about this book is I enjoyed it and I hope to read it again because, it shows how other people go on with their every day life, and how they think that the are not pretty and how they grow to love themselves more than ever.
The author of this book is trying to show you that you don't need to look "cool" to be "cool". Just to act yourself and you will be happy.Don't worry about what people think, just worry about what you think! And he is also trying to show you; you are BEAUTIFUL no matter what so love your self.
I think that any one that is having a hard time because they are getting picked on all the time should read this book because it will show you how to love yourself and how you are not theonly one that is different;every one is different! Hope that you read this book! I know I will again!

Being different over her darker skin that she's in is the interesting theme of this book. Maleeka lives in a small apartment with her mother her only living parent. They don't have very much money at all so her mother has to make her clothes from a sewing machine. They aren't very good but Maleeka doesn't say anything about them because she's afraid her mother would quit, and sewing was the only thing that was keeping her from missing her husband who died a few years before. Maleeka is a very smart beautiful girl but people don't see that in her all they see is her dark chestnut skin. I think they and other people need to look deeper into others. If you want to know more about others and they're outside view then you should read this book.
Further into the book Maleeka promises a very popular girl named Char that she would do her homework all year if Char brought her clothes to wear for the rest of the year. Maleeka may think that this will help but she doesn't understand that the people you hang out with wont make you who you are.
Towards the end Maleeka gets a makeover, she may have looked and felt great but people still couldn't see her but just the skin she was in. She now liked the way that she looked and now she began to be confident but nothing changed. Maleeka then remembered something that her father had once told her "What people can't see on the inside then they don't know you at all." That's the purpose of this whole book: To be confident, to have respect for everyone, and to respect others even if they done respect you.

The clock ticks. Papers are shuffled. The teacher asks you, what you think your face says. Giggles spread through out the room. A boy blurts out that your face says you are a freak. What would you do if you were the only African American girl in the entire school that was teased and bullied? How would you feel?
The Skin I'm In, by Sharon G. Flake is a beautifully written novel about a young middle school girl named Maleeka Madison. Maleeka must learn how to deal with almost all the people in her School making fun of her skin color. During the book, Maleeka learns to ignore all the nasty remarks that are thrown at her. I thought that Maleeka was very strong and brave to do that. It is very hard to ignore somebody and she pulled through it really smoothly.
At certain points in the book Maleeka is caught relieving stress through cigarettes. Her teacher does not yell at her but has a long talk with her about school. After that Maleeka stopped smoking and learned not to get so hung up on what people think about her.
As the stress builds, Maleeka needs to make some decisions and come to terms with her life.
What path will she take? What changes will she make? The author accurately creates the stress that affects all teenagers today.
I recommend this book to anybody that enjoys books that leave you hanging almost after every chapter. This book is for anyone that can really relate to the main character, Maleeka. The Skin I'm In was an amazing book that I really enjoyed.

Imagine you are an African American girl going to school everyday, getting picked on by another African American girl because you don't have a lot of money so your family makes your clothes. But, that doesn't bother you a lot. So you live everyday life. Well, that happens in the book The Skin I'm In a novel by Sharon G. Flake.
Maleeka Madison is a very honest and powerful girl. Her teacher is Miss Saunders. Miss Saunders has marks on her face so kids don't really "like" her, but she is really kind. Maleeka grows strongly to love herself and how she looks and dresses. A girl named Char is always picking on Maleeka, for the way she dresses.
The main event in The Skin I'm In is when Maleeka comes to school with new clothes and her hair done all nice and she looks beautiful! But, Char thinks that she is only trying to act "cool", so she can fit in. Char thinks that she doesn't look "cool" enough. I think that she is saying that because, she is jealous. Char is kind of a bully to Maleeka because she shouldn't just make fun of her for a reason Maleeka just can't help.
My opinion about this book is I enjoyed it and I hope to read it again because, it shows how other people go on with their every day life, and how they think that the are not pretty and how they grow to love themselves more than ever.
The author of this book is trying to show you that you don't need to look "cool" to be "cool". Just to act yourself and you will be happy.Don't worry about what people think, just worry about what you think! And he is also trying to show you; you are BEAUTIFUL no matter what so love your self.
I think that any one that is having a hard time because they are getting picked on all the time should read this book because it will show you how to love yourself and how you are not theonly one that is different;every one is different! Hope that you read this book! I know I will again!

This book is about an African-American girl named Maleeka Madison, who gets picked on because her skin is darker than the rest. Her dad died when she was a little girl and she lives with her mother. Maleekas's mom makes her own clothes and when Maleeka goes to school she gets made fun of because her clothes are ugly and the sewing is crooked. Maleeka and a girl named Charlese made a deal that Maleeka would do her homework and Char would bring her nice clothes to wear to school. Maleeka has a low self-asteem, but when she meets her new teacher Miss Saunders, who was born with a rare skin condition on her face, she realizes there are people who have it worse. In 7th grade Maleeka goes through peer pressure like smoking, drinking, and destroying their classroom. She wants a new image so she cuts her hair short, but kids still make fun of her. She enters a journal enrty in a contest at the library. Caleb is a boy who likes Maleeka, but she still hasn't forgiven him for what happened on the bus.

The main charachers in this story are:

MALEEKA- she has low self-asteem. She gets picked on by other kids in her class and out. She has very dark skin nd is a very good writer.

CHAR- She is half white and half black. She has been in the 7th grade for three years. She skips class to hang out in the bathrom and smoke. She lives with her sister JuJu, who takes care of her.

MISS SAUNDERS- She is a teacher. She was born with a rare skin condition that makes your face blotchy. Many parents and teachers complain about her because they say she's a bad teacher and she gives too much homework.

JOHN-JOHN- A kid in Maleeka's class. He has dark skin and he makes fun of Maleeka. He thinks he is all that and the best.

MALEEKA'S MOM- She has become very lonely after her husband died. She has made a new hobby and now she likes to sew. She makes all of Maleeka's clothes.

CALEB- He is a friend of Maleeka at school. He likes her, but she hasn't forgiven him yet for what happened on the bus.

The genre of this story is fiction. Good things that have happened in the book were when Maleeka entered the contest in the library. I would suggest that this book is mostly for girls from grades 6-8. I thought this book was very interesting. It was hard to stop and put the book down. The author's style of putting words was interesting. She made it seem like you were there and she made it so that some kids spoke in slang. I haven't read any other books by Sharon G. Flake, but they must be great books too. The book didn't go in a fast pace. It took you through her life and it wasn't confusing.

My Favorite Book

I recently read this book called "The Skin I'm in." This book has a thirteen-year-old girl as the main character who is African-American. I saw this book in the library and read the back. The first thing I read was the book was about a thirteen-year-old girl who is in the 7th grade (like me). This was the only reason I got this book. I thought I could really relate to her since she was my age. Makeela had a really rough time in school and had people make fun of her because of her color. There is A LOT of kids at my school who judge people because of their color, people act like the person is guilty for being colored. Also, Makeela has a "friend" who gives her clothes because Makeela's mom makes her clothes. The only reason Makeela is her friend is because she wants to fit in and look like everyone else so people wont make fun of her as much. I also had a friend that was like that but not as mean because Makeela's "friend" makes her do everything like through away her trash and stuff like that. My friend wasn't that mean but pretty close. So, anyone close to Makeela's age and mine should really read this book. Also, anyone who likes books about the olden days and books close to the great depression should really read this. I give this book 5 stars!!!!