The Teacher Role and School

Another topic in this book is the teacher role. Miss Saunders the new teacher is a very provocative person. Her assignments are very unusual for this school. Her assignments always seem to aim at the skin colors or identities of the class members, which are also the reason of the trouble in class. Miss S. is very different from the rest of the teachers, who always complain about her. "What does your face mean to the world?" was one of Miss S.'s tasks for example. Another example was when the students had to write about a teenagers life in the 17th century. Maleeka would have been a slave back then. So that is when she starts writing about Akeelma, which sounds very similar to her name. She refers her life to the slave life of Akeelma. Somehow this reminds me of "Freaky Green Eyes". Because Akeelma makes Maleeka feel stronger like Freaky in Freaky Green Eyes. "Lately it's hard to know where Akleema's thoughts being and mine end. [...] Then I end up the same paragraph with Akleema saying she's scared that maybe people will always think she's ugly. But I'm really talkin about myself. I'm scared people will always think I'm ugly."

Miss S.'s role reminds me of the movie "The class" directed by Laurent Cantet, based on the novel of the same name. The new teacher is also very different from the other teachers. He has to deal with a multicultural class and the problems between the different ethnic groups. It is not very easy for him but he got the students like him. But in the end he fails as a teacher by insulting two of his students. Let's see if Miss S. is going to fail too with her attempt to solve the racial problems in her new class. I am excited to see what happens.

The school is the main setting in this book. It doesn't seem to be a very good school. The students are known for their bad behavior and there isn't that much money for equipment like computers, chairs and so on. "The school detention room is in the basement, next to the boiler room. Damp. Cramped. Hot. Nothing but desks and chairs." Once Miss S. caught them in the girls bathroom and brought them to the principals office: "Miss Saunders says we were cutting class in the bathroom, smoking, destroying property. Dag, I'm thinking, it wasn't like Char was ripping out the sink. She was just writing her name on the wall with a marker. Just letting people know she'd been here." Maleeka doesn't understand why a rich person like Miss Saunders wants to teach at their school: "I mean, teachers don't come here 'cause they want to. They get dumped here, 'cause they goofed up someplace else, usually."

Vocabulary: janitor Hausmeister

Topics

Let's look closer on the topics of this book. Obviously the book deals with the different skin colors and the problems, which occur within society. The rundown school and the cruelty of teenagers is also a topic in this book. The High School is an integral setting in "The Skin I'm In". Most of the actions take place in school. Another topic is the area where the students live in. They obviously live in a ghetto with little or no opportunities. Moreover the roles of teachers are discussed. Miss Saunders in this case is the provocative teacher, whom no one likes but she is actually there to help the students to get out of their misery.

First I would like to talk about the area the characters live in. "Most of the houses on the block are vacant. I'm sitting on the curb, imagining what this street would look like if people picked up the trash and gutted some of the buildings." Two boys on the block are harassing her but there is no one who could help her: "Ain't nothing alive on this block except mangy cats and stray dogs, and they look like they want to jack me up, too." This area seems to be very dangerous. Most of the inhabitants are black or half black but they pick on Maleeka anyways for being too black. "Bad things happen around here to people who can't keep their mouth shut."
People don't help each other in this town. "...there's still three against one. John-John's losing, big time. Nobody on the street is doing nothing to help him. They're just watching."

Chapter 1

So finally I started reading the book "The Skin I'm In". I am really excited to read it since I am very interested in the tensions between ethnic minorities and the society. First of all I informed myself about the author Sharon G. Flake.

When I opened the book and looked at the first chapter I saw how big the letters are. But I think that this is a good thing. This might motivate students to read it because it doesn't take a big effort to read it. I also realized that the sentences are really short. They are not too difficult.

The story is written out of the point of view of the 13 year old girl. Also the language of the book is the language of the teenage girl. The first chapter begins with the arrival of the new teacher Miss Saunders. It is about a seventh grade.
"Maleeka, your skin is pretty. Like a blue sky after it's rained and rained."
We immediately learn that there are some conflicts in the class. Other students like John-John, for example, don't share Miss Saunder's opinion about Maleeka's skin. The funny thing is that John-John is black himself but he is teasing her about being too black. But her skin is not the only reason why her classmates tease her. It's also about her clothes, which are handmade by her Mom. Maleeka is a math whiz and has a very good memory but people only care about her skin color.


The book reminds me very much of the book "A Raisin In The Sun" by Lorrain Hansberry, which I read in class 12. It is also about a black family, who have a lot of economic problems. At the beginning of the book the reader learns that the language used in this book is different from what we learn in school. The differences are shown and explained. Which is not the case in "The Skin I'm In". Students should know that this language is not correct.

I can't wait to start reading this book. I am reading "Freaky Green Eyes" right now but when I'm finished with that one I will start reading "The Skin I'm In". I hope it's going to be as good as "Freaky Green Eyes" or maybe even better?