Customer Reviews

The Skin I'm In

5 star:		(118)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My twelve year-old neice read this book and told me how much she liked it. She had just entered middle school and we all know at that time in your life how fragile your self-esteem can be. Miss Flake did a fine job describing a situation that is prominent in some African American communities, intra-racial division and hatred. It was good Maleeka had a role model and mentor in her teacher because a lot of girls do not get that encouragement. Indeed peer pressure and the need to fit in can bring disastrous results. What Maleeka finally learned is that she was loved despite what she THOUGHT she looked like and that she had so much to offer in her writing and character. I look forward to more of this writer's books.

Maleeka Madison is often told that she is too black. Is this possible? This modernized novel, The Skin I'm In written by Sharon G. Flake, tells the story of a young girl in junior high school who deals with the problem of trying to get people to respect her and like her but she doesn't even like or respect herself. But that's not the only problem she has. Maleeka has to realize that what people think is not always right and true. Will a new English teacher who has dealt with the same problems get through to Maleeka? Will she sacrifice her personal and academic record for people who aren't even her friends?
The Skin I'm In is a good book because teenage girls can relate to the characters. The author made characters behaviorally similar to the average, middle-lower class, African-American, public school attendants, that are students. You should read this book because it's interesting to young readers and they contain situations that happen in a teen's everyday life. Maleeka Madison, who is the main character, attends a school where there are regularly fights and students skipping class to smoke cigarettes. This is one of the many things teenage girls do in everyday life. Sharon G. Flake knows about kids these days and how they act and talk because in the book the kids talk like my friends and I would. She made the dialogue understandable by teens by using slang and terminology that teens today use. If you are a reader who loves realistic books I recommend this book to you.

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!

In my opinion, The Skin I'm in is a very enjoyable book. I'ts about an African-American seventh-grade girl who always gets teased about her skin color. Her name is Maleeka Madison. She tries to be cool, but it just gets her into trouble. Like borrowing clothes from bullies who force her to burn down her teacher's schoolroom. But, in spite of all her troublemaking and her skin color, one person likes (no, loves) her. Then Ms. Saunders comes in, and Maleeka's life changed forever. I won't tell you the end of the book, though. I would suggest this book for people ages 10-100 to read this book. It's a really good book.

May-18-2005

I never been teased about my skin color, but I feel like I know a girl who has Maleeka Madison, is the main character in the book call The Skin I'm In, by Sharon G. Flake (1998). Maleeka Madison is a 13 year old girl that gets teased about how extremely dark her skin color is and how she dresses. Maleeka meets a teacher name Ms. Saunders who teaches her how to love who she is and how to deal with bullies. MCclenton Middle school is where Maleeka attends that's where she gets all her problems from with a few kids. John-John, Char, and the twins Raise and Riana. Hose are the few kids that give her the biggest problems John-John makes up songs about her skin color. Char runs over, she scares her to deaf, and the twins just do whatever Char tells them what to do.

The Skin I'm In is a book based on life lessons. Like Maleeka always had a problem about how she was born with dark skin color. Until, one day she mat a teacher name Ms. Saunders. Ms. Saunders also has the same problem as Maleeka she gates teased because she has a birthmark on her face. The students call her a two-faced monster; they tell her she is half alien. Maleeka and Ms. Saunders get along very well. This book can really teach teenage girls some lessons like don't down touch yourself and don't let other people down talk you. Don't ever feel bad about your skin complexion or how you dress because if you do you are letting other people run your life.

Maleeka had got so tired of people talking about her so she did something that will prove to her school she can be very hard. She did that just to take the attention off her skin color, and the attention focus on how tough she is. I will give this book five big stars. I will also recommend this book to teenage girls and boys that are having problems with their life while attending middle school. This will teach them how to deal with bullies, how to deal with stupid boys, and how to get along with your teacher that has the same problem that you is having.

By:Wynshella Harris

Until now, no one has ever written with such style, passion and gracefulness of the Jr. High / High School experience.

But the book is more than that. The book, through the eyes of Maleeka Madison, demonstrates how people try to "fit in" instead of accepting their differences and utilizing it to their advantage. It shows the vulnerability of adults and youth.

The book is definitely a tool in the self esteem building category and a movitational book. I have purchased 4 copies so far to give to young people that I know are having very similar experiences. With one young lady we are using it as a "learn how to read" book.

Ms. Flake - A WONDERFUL JOB, WELL DONE

This book is one of the most amazing books i ever read.Becuase when i read it it felt like i was there and it took me on a adventure through all the tough and good time maleeka went through and i highly recomend this book for any body who like journey and mishaps teenage girls have to go through.

"Too much to handle"

After reading, 'The Skin I'm In' by Sharon Flake I was more understanding toward things like the way teachers punish us for making fun of people.

I can somewhat relate to the main character Maleeka. She is always being picked on because of her dark skin and poverty. Sometimes I feel picked on simply by looking in the mirror. I immediately find something wrong with me it's like I am my own enemy. The fact that she looks towards books as support is like me except I look toward poetry.

In the middle of the book Maleeka gets in trouble for being involved in a fight and gets punished. But in the end she changes her point of view. I think that's mostly why I enjoyed the book.

After completing the book I realized how she got punished by not the teachers but by the students. They hurt her feelings horribly, and they didn't care. At first I thought the punishment students got were harsh but to think of the pain and misery they caused they deserved it. This book may be sort of a teenage novel it probably helps older people understand how teens feel.

This book may not be exciting or have you at the edge of your seat, but it certainly is entertaining. All the good work Mrs. Flake put in this book was recognized, by me!

By:Marissa Rios

The skin I'm in is a very realistic book. The main character in the story is named Maleeka. She is African American and people like to make fun of her at school. They have a problem with what she looks like and what she wears. She seems to think that she made a friend named Charlese. To me all Charlese does is attempt to bring her down. Maleeka does Charlese's homework, and Charlese brings clothes for Maleeka to wear everyday. Maleeka's mom sews all of her clothes and she doesn't like what they look like, but she doesn't want to hurt her moms feelings so she just doesn't tell her that she changes her clothes everyday at school. Maleeka has a school teacher name Mrs. Saunders, she has a birth mark right on her face. She is used to getting made fun of for it, but she doesn't care because she has dealt with it all of her life. She has money and she had a good job but she chose to go to the school and work. I haven't read the end of the book yet, but from what i've read so far I really like it. You just might want to check it out yourself. =D

The story of this book to me is being black.Most black people are darker then other and some are lighter then others.The characters in this book are;Maleeka,Char,Raise,Rain,Jo-Jo,Caleb.Basically this books is about a young black that lives in the ghetto who was always getting called names or had a bad song made up about her skin color because it was too dark and everyone just seemed light aourned her because her skin color was too dark.This book wasn't racist or anything like that but it shoes you just how someone your color or not can really hurt you and can make you have a very low self-esteem like maleeka had.She wasn't poor but her mother didn't have enough money to buy her clothes.So she wore what her mother made for her to school then when she got to school her friend (or who she thought was her friend)gave her better and up to date clothes to wore.This girl was Charlese, Charlese and Maleeka had there problems but Charlese's deal with Maleeka was for her to do her homework so that she can wear her clothes.Then there's Jo-Jo, and Maleeka's problemm with him was that he was the one to always make fun of her and made her feel that evryone noticed her dark skin color and made her self-esteem low.Next there was the twins Raise and Rain they also had Maleeka do there homework too to keep Maleeka's secrect on the down low.Then after all that trouble with all four of those people here came a boy named Caleb, who made Maleeka feel SO better about her skin color and that no one should ever make her feel so bad about her skin color and the peoms her late father helped her to realize that she is beatiful.Maleeka never thought a boy would like her as much as Caleb did.Caleb made Maleeka focus on one thing that changed Maleeka's thoughts about her skin color and that was;BALCK IS BEAUTIFUL.

This book was influential to me because it helped me to realize that my skin color doesn't make me who I am or who I should be.It also help me to not be resentfull of my skin color and that i should be proud and I AM VERY PROUD THAT IM BLACK AND WOULDN'T CHANGE IT FOR THE WORLD.Before I read this book I thought I would like it so i checked it out read it and while I was reading it I noticed it kind of looked like I was reading some of my life off of those pages and when I finished the book it made me think that there are alot of girls and boys who have this problem cause I knew people who went throught that same problem girl and boys.What this book tells me alot about people and how crewl they can be or how they already are and how they feel or care about you.I learned that others help you but always want something in return and I learned that people that you think wouldn't care about you actually do and no matter what that "BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL".The stlye of this book was the way they talked in slang and it was brilliant how the author captured that and how she didn't have to say what exactly the character acted or looked like but the way they were described.