Color Me In by Natasha Diaz

COLOR ME IN by Natasha Diaz is a new young adult novel and I am honestly having trouble deciding if I would recommend it or not. Some positives are the ideas that the main character, a high school sophomore named Nevaeh, is bi-racial and has a mixed religious heritage (Christianity and Judaism); plus, her main friend, Stevie, is very interested in the fine arts and is competing for a dance scholarship. These are the types of characters not often featured in realistic fiction for middle or high school students and we need to see more of them.  The biggest negative however, is that Nevaeh is not at all like-able.  As Stevie says to her, “It’s always about what you need and you want…. I had one shot to get into that program and you couldn’t even support me. I needed you, and you’re so full of yourself you couldn’t see it.” In addition, her parents are in the midst of divorcing and her Mom is almost totally checked out and depressed. Her Dad has suddenly (and manipulatively) decided that Nevaeh should be studying for a bat mitzvah even though she is much older than the traditional age. That provides a reason for her to develop a relationship with a young female rabbi (another positive aspect) who, however, also berates Nevaeh for her attitudes and actions: “I think you spend a lot of time complaining about what’s out of your control instead of considering and appreciating what you’ve got.”  School Library Journal suggests this debut book for grades 8 and up and I think that it would probably have more appeal for students in late middle school and very early high school although there is some casual alcohol and substance abuse.

I've Been Meaning to Tell You by David Chariandy

I’VE BEEN MEANING TO TELL YOU by David Chariandy is a letter written to his thirteen year old daughter. This short text, just 91 pages, is sure to be compared to Between the World and Me and Dear Ijeawele, both of which are in our collection. An award-winning author, Chariandy grew up in Toronto (and now lives in Vancouver) with immigrant parents from Trinidad so he offers a unique perspective. There are times when this thoughtful and very emotionally powerful letter is less critical of a single group (or nation other than Canada) and speaks directly to all of us: “We live in a time, dearest daughter, when the callous and ignorant in wealthy nations have made it their business to loudly proclaim who are the “us” (those really “us”) and who are the alien and undeserving “them.” But the stories of our origins offers us a different insight. The people we imagine most apart from “us” are, oftentimes, our own forgotten kin.”

Chariandy also contemplates the experiences of each generation, reflecting on how his daughter’s childhood is different from his own and on the lives of his own parents who “experienced many indignities and deep body aches, sacrifices and shortages, but they worked hard and they managed to raise a writer who is also a professor of literature, a fact of which they are proud but also, at times, perplexed.” 

Very poignantly he notes, “children always sense more than their parents are willing to say.  Children read stories in pauses and silences, from irritation and sadness, from the grief and fear behind brave faces. And children sometimes choose silence.” That reinforces the importance of sharing and discussing texts like I’VE BEEN MEANING TO TELL YOU with our students, especially as we strive to explore social emotional learning this next school year.