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."