The Skin I'm In

Junior high school student Maleeka Madison is black…to black for some students’ tastes. They tease her mercilessly. She’s teased for her clothes, which her mother makes for her, and her skin color so steadily that she has taken to hanging with the school bully, Charlese. Charlese loans

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Maleeka clothing as long as Maleeka does her homework and whatever else she wants her to do, all while being extremely rude to her. But, their lives change when a new English teacher enters the picture.

This is a great story about self-esteem issues. It would be great for both male and female students to read. For females, it shows how to better view ourselves in terms of confidence. And, for males, it shows that teasing females gets you nowhere and they never know what kind of negative effects their actions are causing. And, I have to add, most of the time boys tease girls, it is because they actually have crushes on the girls but know no other way to be noticed (like John-John). One can always see Maleeka’s story as a cautionary tale. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her, but she let other people change her perception of herself.

I really liked the story. It was a quick read to me because I didn’t want to put it down after I got into it. I felt bad for Maleeka because I can relate to how she felt on certain issues. No, my mother never made my school clothes, but I was teased when I was younger for being too dark-skinned. I had to learn to block out what everyone else thought and be more comfortable with myself. I could not stand seeing Char’s name anywhere on the pages because she was that irritating to me. But you have to realize that she was just a product of her environment. She was practically raising herself because all her sister did was party and she had already failed the seventh grade three times. There was nobody to care about her well-being, so I think she took her frustrations out on everyone else and she hated seeing others happy. This was evidenced by her breaking up Daphne and Worm, only to toss Worm aside. I genuinely like Miss Saunders and her ideas; she captured the minds of her students and forced them to work hard and apply themselves. What Char and her minions did to Miss Saunders was completely uncalled for, and I hate Maleeka had to take the fall for them. I do not want to reveal the story, but Maleeka certainly grew up over the course of this novel and she may have even found true love with Caleb! I’d love for there to be a part two to this book!

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This book is called The Skin I'm In by Sharon G. Flake. The girl, Maleeka Madison, gets teased for her dark skin and her clothes. Her mom makes her clothes, so she is afraid to tell her that she does not like them. She says it's the only thing her mom does to past time by after her father's death.

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She borrows clothes from Charlese at school, but she isn't a true friend to her. She makes Maleeka do her work, treates her badly, and ultimately gets her into some big trouble at school, which is being suspended. Will Maleeka finally speak up? Will she realize that she is beautiful just as she is, skin tone and all? You have to read this book to see just what happens!

The first idea I had with this book is to use reader's theatre. I think it will be great having roles with this book. The chapters are quite short, so I will take one week to read this book in script form during class. My students will rotate roles throughout the chapters, so everyone will have a part. The next idea I want to do with this book is have my students to use their prediction skills. They will pretend like they are writing a sequel (1 to 2 pages) picking up where the story left off. It will be very interesting to see how the students write about what they think Maleeka and Charlese are now doing. We will share these in class.

I really enjoyed reading this book. A lot of things happened to Maleeka in the book, such as teasing, peer pressure, trying to fit in, etc. Many middle schoolers will probably relate to Maleeka or may even be the other characters in the book, such as Charlese, who uses her. Maybe this book will be an eye opener to all of the students no matter what side they are on. In conclusion, I rate the book 4 1/2 starts, and I'd love to share with young adolescents.

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Maleeka is a seventh grade African American girl who has very dark skin, skin so dark she’s teased to no end about. Maleeka’s father dies leaving her family poor therefore, Maleeka’s mom only way of providing clothes for her is to make them herself. The constant teasing and taunting about her

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skin and the way she dresses causes Maleeka to be ashamed of herself. Desperate and wanting to belong, Maleeka befriends Charlese Jones who’s a bully that most don’t mess with. Charlese provides Maleeka with clothes and protection but pushes her around and makes her do her homework and chores. Miss Sauders a new teacher, who has a skin condition, arrives and Maleeka develops a sense of self pride. Although Maleeka looks up to Miss Sauders, Chalese persuades her to go to the school and set fire to Miss Sauder’s class. Charlese leaves her there to take full responsibility for the fire. Maleeka learns from her mistakes and learns to Love the Skin she’s in!

The Skin I'm in can be used in the classroom in a several ways. A lesson an ethnicity maybe having students research different cultural backgrounds, providing a better understanding of the each other while gaining a better understanding of ourselves. Creating a school-wide anti-bullying campaign would be good. A lesson on peer pressure and avoidance methods would be good.

The Skin I'm In is a great read, Maleeka is like so many other girls with self-esteem issues. She feels lost and alone in the beginning with the help of Miss Sauders she realizes that she's beautiful person regardless of what others say. I'm so glad she finally became comfortable with the skin she was in!

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This story is about a young girl named Maleeka, who is very insecure about her dark skin. She rejects the support of a new teacher, Miss Saunders, whose skin looks blotched because of a rare medical condition. But soon, Maleeka begins to see that Miss Saunders could be a role model, and that she

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must learn to love herself and accept love from others. Students will enjoy this book. The themes are African Americans, self-esteem, teachers, schools, and fitting in.

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Maleeka is African American and has very dark skin which makes her the target of teasing and jokes. There is one girl in particulare, Charlese, who Maleeka tries to hang out with to gain acceptence. Charlese is a bully and because she lends Maleeka clothes, tries to control her. Maleeka is smart

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and beautiful, but she isn't able to value these qualities in herself. A new teacher comes to the school who has a large white patch of skin on her face, and she doesn't let anyone give her trouble. she tries to reach out to Maleeka and encourage her writing.

The journey we are taken on is powerful and moving, and I think fairly realistic. The difficulties of finding acceptance at school and self-acceptance are deftly handled.

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Maleeka Madison is desperately trying to blend into the middle school wood work. The nail that stands out gets pounded, and Maleeka has plenty to pound-- no money, homemade clothes, book smarts and good grades and, impossible to hide, very black skin. She is at exactly the age when so many girls

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lose their confidence and Maleeka learns to avoid, live with, deal with the bullying by becoming "friends" (minions) with her main tormentor Charlese Jones who bestows favors and humiliations at her whim. Her reputation and grades and self esteem suffer because of the association, but to Maleeka's thinking-- this is the best deal she can get..until Ms. Saunders shows up. A career changer with ideas and attitude, Saunders isn't like the other teachers and she is not having it. She sees the potential in Maleeka and she encourages her--over and over again--to love herself and have pride and be who you want to be--not who you think you have to settle for. Aim higher!
A great book for middle schoolers-boys as well as girls--i found it fast paced and well written and real--no one is perfect here--the characters are complex and nuanced just like in real life and this is a good book that teens will identify with and eat up. Similar in theme and in teen popularity to Anne Schraff's Lost and Found (Bluford Series) The Skin I'm in is far superior with complex and well developed characters and plot lines, as well as a much better, and more realistic examination of the issues bullying and low self esteem. A Coretta Scott King Award winner. Highly recommended.

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A strong story about the importance of acceptance, both of yourself and of others.

This book catches your attenton from the beginning with witty comments. It was a quick, easy read, but you still felt connected to the main character's struggles.

A great book to use with middle schoolers as they confront finding acceptance and their place in the social scene, Maleeka has the potential to be successful but feels inferior for many reasons, part of which comes from peers. With the help of a caring teacher, she looks within and finds a

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worthwhile individual. I recommend this book for teens and those working with kids at risk.

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This book is an inside look at the way a student feels when she is different. It deals with skin color and attitudes. She wants to be liked by everyone so she becomes someone she is not to please the other kids. Finally, she realizes that it is not what others think of her that is important, it is

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what she thinks of herself.

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An educational lesson with humorous injections of how a seventh grader learns the value of true friendship, parents' love and the value of loving one's self. The book also contains one of the coolest love poems ever written by a seventh grader writer! Enjoyed it!

I think that this book that I am currently reading is a real page turner. It is so interesting in so many ways. In this book there is a girl who everybody makes fun of because she poor so she finds a friend who is really not a friend because she treats her really bad. But she stills her friend

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because she lets her borrow clothes. The reason why she borrows clothes from her is because she doesn’t want to wear the clothes that her mom made her because there not put together well. As in one sleeve is bigger than the other, the collar is all messed up and the clothes that her mom makes are just not well done. So that’s why she became friends with her. There’s this one part of the book that I read that I think that is really good. I like all of the diaries that she writes for her class project. She makes these diaries up about this salve girl who suffers on the boat that she’s on and how she sees other slaves in there own urine and vomit. She also writes about how some of the slaves try to starve themselves to death and about all these horrible things that has happened to her well to the slave girl. I haven’t finished reading it but I can tell that I am going to like the ending. I think that any type of person would like to read this book because it’s a really good book so far. So anybody can read this book.

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This book is outstanding. Sharon allows you to "see" each scene. You will feel so much empathy for the main character, Maleeka. Sharon shows you a glimpse of how terrible peer pressure can be. Many lessons are woven throughout the story. One very important lesson is the importance of honesty. When

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Maleeka is finally honest at the end of the story, things work out in her favor.

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"The Skin I'm in" is a sad, eye grabbing,and realistic fiction book. This book is about a girl, Maleeka who is about 12-13 years old and her father had died recently. She goes to an all white school but she is herself is african american.She is bullied because of the color of her skin and clothing

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all the time. While all these things are going in her life a new teacher, Miss Saunders comes around the corner to make Maleeka's life harder. But to her suprise Miss Saunders and herself are very much a like. In the end Maleeka relized that it does not matter the color of your skin our what people think of you . I thought this book was a very good book although there were some parts of the book that I believe were out of the story. that id the reason I or Elena Castillo gave this book 4 stars and not 5.

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Although it won an award for new talent, I didn't think it was THAT good. Maleeka is teased about her good grades, homemade clothes and dark skin. When a new teacher, Miss Saunders, recognizes Maleeka's potential, Maleeka feels she's going to be trouble.

This book goes through how a seventh grader gets teased because of her dark skin color. This is a powerful book that I believe every child should read. I gives them an insight into how others feel and how it feels to be treated poorly because of skin color.

This book is amazing! i like it because it has a great discription of the setting and I like the story.
This girl, Maleeka is teased on by her peers at school because of how dark her skin is. But then they get a new teacher and feels differently about Maleeka, the teacher, Ms. Saunders, has a big

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white patch of skin in the middle of her face so she learns to love the skin Maleeka's in and so does Maleeka herself.
The setting in the book I like because there was a certain part I remember when Maleeka first meets the teacher in the hall way and she is unsure of herself. Ok, so in the halls the author descibes it like this, it's not alot, but, I think this really means alot, ".... poining down the hall....." I really like this because when i read that, I could imagine a huge hall that is scary on the first day of school maybe. But this is exactly what Maleeka feels like, she feels insucure and nervous, she doesn't know what to say so Maleeka points instead. Or maybe she is even thinking to herself, "why am i hear if everyones going to tease me?" But at this time in the story she doesnt realize that Ms. Saunders is okay with the colour of her skin. I feel that without a word said from Maleeka in the halls I know that she feels speachless because of her skin colour and race.
This is why I really like the setting in the book!

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Flake's story is a heartwarming tale about a girl named Maleeka and her struggle to accept and love herself for who she is. Maleeka is constantly made fun by her peers because of her dark skin color, lives alone with her mother after the death of her father and is bullied by a group of girls who

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she cannot seem to get away from. It is not until Maleeka meets the new teacher, Miss Saunders, that she finally starts to stand up for herself, to discover her writing talent, and to be proud of who she is. I absolutely loved this book, and I think it is important for children Maleeka's age to recognize how important it is to be proud of who you are!

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Flake creates a heartbreaking and inspirational story about a young girl. This a powerful tale that every young person should read. It deals with heavy topics like, death, poverty, and bullying. But Flake allows for students to grapple with these real parts of our world. We need more books like

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this.

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This was a great story that every seventh grade girl should read. It is about low self-esteem, trying to fit in, and just having a really tough time. Maleeka gets picked on because of her very dark skin, and she ends up hooking up with a bad girl, Charlese, for protection. Charlese is a bully

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trying to forget her own problems by giving others a hard time. Maleeka has got enough problems of her own, like her dad dying two years before, her mom sewing al her clothes, and her boyfriend dumping her. She gets a new teacher, Miss Saunders, who can’t seem to stay out of her business. Miss Saunders is a new teacher with a skin condition that affects her face. She tells her students how she had to learn to love her own skin. Later in the book, you find out how she pushes herself to be perfect and better than everyone else to cover up her own feelings of insecurity. Maleeka writes a diary of a slave girl, and she reflects a lot of her own struggles in her writing. Maleeka is a lovable character who thankfully ends up okay in the end. She learns to love her own skin, in part from the beautiful poetry of her departed father and Caleb, the boy she likes. This is a really nice story.

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Excellent story told in the voice of dark-skinned middle-schooler Maleeka who learns to love the skin she's in with the help of a courageous English teacher who is, herself, different.

This story is one that many teenagers would be able to relate to. It has to do with a seventh grade girl, Maleeka, who is not comfortable in her skin. She goes through a great deal of time struggling with being comfortable with who she is and at the end, she ultimately becomes comfortable in her

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skin. It is a very inspirational story that has many deep issues included. It is definitely a book that teenagers would enjoy reading, but it is one that they should talk with an adult about what they are reading.

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Maleeka is an African American that is always getting picked on by her color and apperences.One day while at school a new teacher walks in the classroom that she does'nt reconize. Maleeka quickly notices that this teacher has a white patch on her face. The other children make fun of her because of

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this while Maleeka is nice about it and ask if she is okay with the way she looks. The techer is proud of the skin shes in and Maleeka is wondering if she can do the same. Find out while Maleeka goes on a wild ride over discovering if she is okay with the skin shes in.

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The Skin I'm In is a fiction novel about an African American girl named Maleeka who gets teased because of her race. She becomes friends with Char, the antagonist character, and often gets in trouble because of her. There are many times she is in a situation and doesn't know what to do. Maleeka

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grows tired of everyone bulling her so she finally stands up for herself. I think that many kids would enjoy reading this because they can relate to it.

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