Passin' [Paperback]

Karen E. Quinones Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2008

Shanika Ann Jenkins is the pride of her African-American family; smart, beautiful, and born with blue eyes and blonde hair. Though her grandmother and father are happy because she represents years of passing down light skin and marrying well, Shanika's mother insists on her name reflecting her African-American heritage so that she will always be proud of who she is. When Shanika gets the opportunity to work for a PR firm in New York, she finds that everyone assumes she is white; she also notices that being white has it advantages, from getting respect at work to getting picked up by a cab when other African-Americans are passed by. When she starts dating a successful white colleague, she continues with the lie, despite the guilt she feels at disappointing her mother and her heritage. When she falls for a handsome African-American business man, she must finally face who she is and what she's done, even if it means losing everything and everyone she loves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her fifth novel, Quinones Miller (Satin Doll) attempts to make a commentary on race but instead delivers a stew of clichés, two-dimensional characters and tired stereotypes. African-American Shanika Jenkins, who has skin as white as Meryl Streep's, blond hair and blue eyes, comes from a long line of Jenkinses who pride themselves on being so light-skinned that some people could mistake them for white. After graduating from college, Shanika gets an interview at a New York PR firm and starts dreaming big. But after the interview, Shanika is told she was turned down for the position because the interviewer thought she was white, and therefore wouldn't help meet the company's affirmative action quota. She interviews for another position that isn't subject to the AA rules as a white woman and, predictably, lands the job and her career takes off. The lies snowball and she hurts plenty of people, including the man of her dreams: the handsome African-American businessman Tyrone Bennett. The ending may surprise, but there are few reasons to get that far. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Karen E. Quinones Miller, formerly a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, is also the author of I'm Telling, Using What You Got, Ida B., Satin Nights, Passin', and Harlem Godfather. She lives in Philadelphia with her daughter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (February 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446696056
• ISBN-13: 978-0446696050
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,254,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Essence best selling and NAACP Literary Award Nominee, Karen E. Quinones Miller was born and raised in Harlem in 1958. Miller dropped out of school during the eighth grade, and spent the majority of her teenage years experiencing street life first-hand. After getting a job as a police attendant in New York City's Midtown North police precinct, Miller became friends with a number of police officers who persuaded her that the life she was living could lead to an early death.

So at age 22, Miller joined the Navy and after spending five years in the Navy, Miller married, had a child and divorced all within a two-year period. At age 29, she got a secretarial job with The Philadelphia Daily News, but after three years complaining about the paper's coverage of people living below the poverty level she quit and started taking journalism classes at Temple University.

After graduation she became a newspaper reporter, and worked for the Associated Press, The Norfolk Virginian Pilot, and lastly for The Philadelphia Inquirer where she was employed for nine years. She also worked as a correspondent for People Magazine from 1996 to 1999.
Miller wrote Satin Doll in 1999, and after many unsuccessful attempts at finding a publisher, decided to publish it herself. She sold 28,000 copies on her own, and Satin Doll wound up on the Essence Bestseller's List for two months. Publishing rights were sold to Simon & Schuster (via auction) for six figures.

Miller went on to write five other Essence Bestselling novels for Simon & Schuster, Warner Books, and Grand Central Books: I'm Telling, Using What You Got (both were main selections for Black Expressions Book Club), Ida B. (which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Fiction.), Satin Nights and Passin'.

Best selling author Kwan Foye has often publicly referred to Miller as "The Aretha Franklin of Black Publishing." Miller, who is included in the book Literary Divas: The Top 100+ Most Admired African-American Women In Literature, often gives publishing and self-publishing seminars in her home and Philadelphia, and is the CEO of Oshun Publishing Company. Miller has been often cited for her willingness to help aspiring authors, and Essence best selling authors Daaimah S. Poole, and Miasha are just two of the young writers who consider Miller their mentor.

Miller's new book, An Angry A** Black Woman, will be published by Karen Hunter Books in 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars (RAW Rating: 4.5) - What's really below the skin?, January 29, 2008

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passin' (Paperback)

One would think the phenomenon of 'passing' for white would have run its course. But old habits die hard, and Miller's new book PASSIN' is a testament to that. I don't want to make this story center on racial attitudes and prejudices, but I must tell it like the book tells it. Shanika Ann Jenkins is the epitome of what her grandparents think is beautiful. She is fair-skinned, with blonde hair and blue eyes. But her parents, both African-Americans, have made every effort to keep Shanika from buying into her grandparents' racial profiling. Her mother specifically named her Shanika to evoke a sense of pride in her heritage.

Now twenty-three, Shanika has graduated from college and is ready to begin her career. She lands a job with a PR firm in New York and realizes most everyone assumes she is white. She has never frowned on her heritage, but she sees being white has advantages, from getting respect at work, to getting invited to exclusive affairs, to hailing a cab when other African-Americans are ignored. Shanika, ignoring the guilt she feels about her heritage, starts dating a successful white colleague and starts buying into the hype, but her 'deaf ear' comes with a price. A tragedy makes her face herself, and what she sees just might cause her to lose everything and everyone she loves.

PASSIN is thought-provoking and revealing, as it makes readers ponder their course of action if life allowed them a choice of color. Miller does not take sides, even though readers might. With a sensitive stroke of the pen, she shares this story about the flip side of pigmentation with a pulsating realness. It has several pertinent messages, the most prevalent, for me anyway, is to thine own self be true. Readers will wonder, along with Shanika, how she can be true to herself, true to her heritage and continue to pass. Genuine characters make this a convincing read.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ(tm) Reviewers

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Imitation of Life, February 8, 2008

By 

Yasmin Coleman (PENNSYLVANIA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Passin' (Paperback)

Imitation of Life is one my favorite movies and Passin' by Karen E. Quinones Miller reminds me of the movie; except the movie took place over 60 years ago and the novel takes place in the new millennium with original twists and turns, of course.

Blue-eyed, blonde hair, and unbeknownst to many, African-American, Shanika Jackson is the apple of her family's eyes. Although spoiled, she has always respected and admired her family, loved her blackness and felt comfortable in her skin. She is not hesitant to remind folks from whence she came or to let them know they should not get her nationality twisted. They should not be easily influenced by the light outer exterior, as she is all Black...and a strong black woman to boot. So, no one is more surprised and shocked than Shanika, when a potential employer suggests that she pass for white, after she is overlooked for an earlier position because she does not `look black enough' for the position set aside for the lone black hire.

And, after all, whites already think she is white and there are more positions available at the firm for Caucasians. Once she has the job she can always tell them that she is black. With no other job opportunities on the horizon, and a new college grad with no credible experience in her field, the weeks turn into months and student loan payments loom in the background; Shanika desperately needs a job. She decides to do the unthinkable and the unbelievable...to pass as a white woman. But, while passing is easy to conceive, she is not prepared for the toil it will take on her or the backlash she will receive from family, friends or strangers.

One lie begets another and as the web she spins worsens her life spirals out of control; she appears to be a spectator rather than an actual participant in the series of events that occur. While she fools the white folks, fooling her own (i.e. blacks) is not so easy. She is too busy trying to cover her tracks to be concerned about hurting those she does not know, but her conscious and upbringing will not allow her to ignore the actions of those who matter the most. Her mother is disappointed and brokenhearted but never complains or mentions her daughter's deceit; her brother is hurt and angry and questions how can she turn her back on her family and questions when is she going to lose the façade; a cousin with psychological problems and credibility issues is rightfully confused and befuddled. The only family member who appears unaffected is her dad. Well, he seems to be unmoved as he is by so many things, since he tends to live his life in a stupor.

As I read Passin', I had flashbacks to paternal family members and my favorite movie, Imitation of Life. (If you have never watched this movie, you might want to.) Although, I did not agree with Shanika's decision to pass, as I do not believe that anyone should ever deny their heritage, I found I could not dislike her either. At times, I really understood her plight and wanted to help her right her ways and find a positive outcome. Quinones Miller did a good job of presenting a young lady who was confused, immature, and at times selfish, but one who was also troubled because she got caught up in a situation with ramifications far beyond what she imagined. And the deeper Shanika dug the harder it became to escape the charade. She even had some redeeming qualities ...enough that I could not hate her by the end of the book. Actually, I though she (and her friends) would make good candidates for Oprah or Dr. Phil's show. I enjoy reading books that I believe can be made into movies for the big screen and Passin' is one of those storylines. I recommend Passin' to all who enjoy storylines dealing with young heroines, family matters, situations that do not have easy answers, characters that make you think and sensitive issues that continue to haunt the black community even in the new millennium.

Reviewed by Yasmin
APOOO BookClub

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fair Skin, June 9, 2008

By 

Tangerine (IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passin' (Paperback)

Passin' is a story of Shanika Jenson who was born fair skin and blue eyes of the African American culture. She doesn't have problem letting everyone know that she is proud of her race. A graduate of Delaware State, Shanika applies for a public relations position in New York but is turned down because she wasn't "black enough".

Never giving up she applies again under the alias of Nicole Jensen, letting everyone assume she is Caucasian. Disappointing her family back in Detroit, she wasn't about to fess up about her enthicity until she meets the man of her dreams Tyrone Bennett.

Karen E. Quinones Miller really out did herself on this novel. It reminds you of the movie "Imitation to Life". The story is thought provoking, and very real. As the saying goes "Its not always greener on the other side of the fence".

Tangerine
Reader's Paradise Book Club