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Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong
"The tenderness and truth of the book moved my heart. As well as the enormous love." - Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple Identity Crisis. As a biracial teen, Nina is accustomed to a life of varied hues—mocha-colored skin, ringed brown hair streaked with red, a darker brother, a black father, a white mother. When her parents decide to divorce, the rainbow of Nina’s existence is reduced to a much starker reality. Shifting definitions and relationships are playing out all around her, and new boxes and lines seem to be getting drawn every day. Between the fractures within her family and the racial tensions splintering her hometown, Nina feels caught in a perpetual battle. Feeling stranded in the nowhere land between racial boundaries, and struggling for personal independence and identity, Nina turns to the story of her great-great-grandmother’s escape from slavery. Is there direction in the tale of her ancestor? Can Nina build her own compass when landmarks from her childhood stop guiding the way?
224 pages, Hardcover
First published August 9, 2011
19 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
About the author
Joan Steinau Lester
8 books16 followersJoan Steinau Lester, Ed.D. is an award-winning NPR commentator, columnist, and the author of four books. Black, White, Other, a 2011 Young Adult novel, was her first fiction. Her latest novel, Mama's Child, will be released May 7. http://books.simonandschuster.com/Mam...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
October 9, 2011
I really wanted to like this book. I really did, but I just can't finish it. It's heavy handed, obvious and slow.
It's the story of a mixed race girl witnessing her white mothers divorce from her black father. It could be educational, thought provoking and heart-warming. Instead there are layers upon layers of 'race-issues' that are written into a thick nest of 'you-should-be-thinking-about-this' subplots. Instead of giving a us a story that makes us think the writing is a conglomeration of 'issues' put over a simple story - overwhelming the characters and story with so many 'big-ideas'.
It's the story of a mixed race girl witnessing her white mothers divorce from her black father. It could be educational, thought provoking and heart-warming. Instead there are layers upon layers of 'race-issues' that are written into a thick nest of 'you-should-be-thinking-about-this' subplots. Instead of giving a us a story that makes us think the writing is a conglomeration of 'issues' put over a simple story - overwhelming the characters and story with so many 'big-ideas'.
November 1, 2016
Disclosure: Received a digital ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. No spoilers.
I tried I honestly did but I didn't finish this book. This book was so bad from the very beginning I'm honestly surprised I got very far into it. As a biracial teen I was excited to read this book hoping the author would convey how mixed kids feel, she didn't.
What I got from this book is a whiny teenager who doesn't understand a goddamn thing about the world and wants everything to be just like they were when she was a child. News flash honey, things change in life and you gotta learn to deal with it. Honestly, this character disturbed me. The way she talked about black people you would've thought she had never seen one much less be one. I'm so angry about this book because that's not an accurate depiction of a mixed person, honestly Nina sounded like a white girl who couldn't cope with all the black people around her but wasn't outwardly racist toward them like her "friends". This author clearly has no idea what it means to be mixed in this world and it upsets me greatly that this is how she believes it to be.
I'm just so sorry I ever read this book it was just so bad.
I tried I honestly did but I didn't finish this book. This book was so bad from the very beginning I'm honestly surprised I got very far into it. As a biracial teen I was excited to read this book hoping the author would convey how mixed kids feel, she didn't.
What I got from this book is a whiny teenager who doesn't understand a goddamn thing about the world and wants everything to be just like they were when she was a child. News flash honey, things change in life and you gotta learn to deal with it. Honestly, this character disturbed me. The way she talked about black people you would've thought she had never seen one much less be one. I'm so angry about this book because that's not an accurate depiction of a mixed person, honestly Nina sounded like a white girl who couldn't cope with all the black people around her but wasn't outwardly racist toward them like her "friends". This author clearly has no idea what it means to be mixed in this world and it upsets me greatly that this is how she believes it to be.
I'm just so sorry I ever read this book it was just so bad.
April 8, 2012
I just hated it.
July 28, 2023
Black, White, Other is definitely the type of book that would have resonated more if I had read this one when I had actually originally heard of it, when I was in middle or high school. As it was, I saw a lot of connections between this and This Song Will Save Your Life, which was another favorite in high school that I don't think I could stand now.
Like that one, the messages in this are very powerful, and I can definitely see them as helpful for teens facing questions about their identity. I personally am past that stage, but this book could potentially have been more influential in my life if I had read it when I was younger.
As it is, I think I'll pass this book along to the Boys and Girls club where I work in the hopes that a middle or high school student who may be going through similar issues finds it more useful and beneficial.
Like that one, the messages in this are very powerful, and I can definitely see them as helpful for teens facing questions about their identity. I personally am past that stage, but this book could potentially have been more influential in my life if I had read it when I was younger.
As it is, I think I'll pass this book along to the Boys and Girls club where I work in the hopes that a middle or high school student who may be going through similar issues finds it more useful and beneficial.
June 28, 2017
An earnest story about a biracial teenage girl who struggles with her parent's divorce and her identity.
- A heartfelt and earnest narrative on what it is like to be biracial - explores identity, history, perceptions of the media.
- About a girl who is trying to make sense of who she is - as she quickly learns, more often than not, we learn about race because of how people treat and talk to us.
- Offers an insightful and important narrative about the protagonist's grandmother, Sarah, who was a slave before traveling the Underground Railroad.
- However, momentum of the story stumbles in some instances, and something is missing. I can't quite put my finger on it - yet.
- A heartfelt and earnest narrative on what it is like to be biracial - explores identity, history, perceptions of the media.
- About a girl who is trying to make sense of who she is - as she quickly learns, more often than not, we learn about race because of how people treat and talk to us.
- Offers an insightful and important narrative about the protagonist's grandmother, Sarah, who was a slave before traveling the Underground Railroad.
- However, momentum of the story stumbles in some instances, and something is missing. I can't quite put my finger on it - yet.
March 13, 2014
This book was ok. It was really hard to get into and just kinda boring... I liked reading the parts about Nina's slave relative! That was better than the actual story, I think... sorry!
May 19, 2020
A book within a book isn’t my typical style. Okay story line, but I’m afraid the excellent book I read prior to this one made it less than great.
March 2, 2017
...I find three whole chapters of MISS SARAH ARMSTRONG: ON THE RUN. Sarah, who might actually be the only person on the planet I can relate to. The only problem: she's dead.
Nina's black father and white mother have decided to divorce, a racial uproar is spreading through Nina's hometown, and it seems her fellow teenaged classmates and friends are now dividing everything along color lines. Seeking direction, Nina turns to the story of her great-great-grandmother's escape from slavery in Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong by author Joan Steinau Lester.
What a story this is about family and friendship, injustice and unrest, slavery and freedom, legacy and identity. I'll admit that Nina got a few head shakes from me, when she'd slip into bratty, know-it-all, disrespectful mode, even when only in her head. And I don't automatically shrug that stuff off just because a character is a teenager in a YA novel. But I didn't find her too unbearable to read about, particularly during her moments of protectiveness and dry humor. Besides, the lessons she learns are more than worth it.
Along with my head shakes came nods of appreciation for different points raised in the story, including how so many of us (no matter our "color") are really more mixed than we know, and about how slavery is not merely something that happened back in the past, in one country.
Whether you're an inspirational fiction fan or not, a young adult fiction fan or not, I'd recommend this as a worthwhile and moving read.
But a part of me argues back, telling me that just because things aren't perfect or easy or right, it doesn't mean God's not here.
Nina's black father and white mother have decided to divorce, a racial uproar is spreading through Nina's hometown, and it seems her fellow teenaged classmates and friends are now dividing everything along color lines. Seeking direction, Nina turns to the story of her great-great-grandmother's escape from slavery in Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong by author Joan Steinau Lester.
What a story this is about family and friendship, injustice and unrest, slavery and freedom, legacy and identity. I'll admit that Nina got a few head shakes from me, when she'd slip into bratty, know-it-all, disrespectful mode, even when only in her head. And I don't automatically shrug that stuff off just because a character is a teenager in a YA novel. But I didn't find her too unbearable to read about, particularly during her moments of protectiveness and dry humor. Besides, the lessons she learns are more than worth it.
Along with my head shakes came nods of appreciation for different points raised in the story, including how so many of us (no matter our "color") are really more mixed than we know, and about how slavery is not merely something that happened back in the past, in one country.
Whether you're an inspirational fiction fan or not, a young adult fiction fan or not, I'd recommend this as a worthwhile and moving read.
But a part of me argues back, telling me that just because things aren't perfect or easy or right, it doesn't mean God's not here.
March 16, 2017
Nina Armstrong's dad is black. Her mom is white. And they just split up. Nina now lives with her mom in the same house she grew up in, but her brother Jimi lives with their dad in a very different neighborhood. Also, Nina just started ninth grade, and her best friend has been acting oddly, hanging with some new people. All this fills Nina with a whirlpool of teen angst. She lets her emotions control her, finally convincing herself that the only way to make sense of her situation is to gain some distance from it by running away to the house of a friend who moved several hours away.
Woven throughout the book is a fictionalized version of her great-grandmother's journey from slavery to freedom. Nina's dad is writing the story and asks for her opinion on it, but her mom asks her not to read it. Torn between the two, Nina does read the book, and gains comfort and insight into her own problems from it.
I'm not biracial. And I haven't been a teen for a long time now. Yet, I could relate a to some of Nina's difficulties. I've also had friendships disintegrate. I've been treated as an outsider. I've struggled to figure out where I fit in. These are universal problems, but for Nina, they're exacerbated by her difficulty feeling at home in either the white or black communities. Joan Steinau Lester uses those universal difficulties in a very compelling way to help us understand how hard life can be for someone like Nina who feels torn between two different heritages.
Woven throughout the book is a fictionalized version of her great-grandmother's journey from slavery to freedom. Nina's dad is writing the story and asks for her opinion on it, but her mom asks her not to read it. Torn between the two, Nina does read the book, and gains comfort and insight into her own problems from it.
I'm not biracial. And I haven't been a teen for a long time now. Yet, I could relate a to some of Nina's difficulties. I've also had friendships disintegrate. I've been treated as an outsider. I've struggled to figure out where I fit in. These are universal problems, but for Nina, they're exacerbated by her difficulty feeling at home in either the white or black communities. Joan Steinau Lester uses those universal difficulties in a very compelling way to help us understand how hard life can be for someone like Nina who feels torn between two different heritages.
December 19, 2017
I see what the author was trying to do, and I really wish it was better. The parts following Sarah were written quite well, a contrast to the superficial dialogue and thoughts of Nina. Nina was such an unsympathetic character. I absolutely did not like her, and found her vapid and lacking in critical thought. Nina's father was used as a tool to force the connection, without any flow. Also the story didn't make much sense as a whole. It felt like a bunch of ideas glued together but as a whole there was a lack of cohesion.
July 17, 2021
This book follows Nina through her internal struggle furthered by those around her. It deals with racial issues and how she works through them and how she feels. It shows her journey in becoming a better person, discovering who she is and who she wants to be. This book isn't about a perfect family with a perfect life, it has easy to relate to characters who are put through realistic challenges.
December 2, 2013
I think the idea for this story, the struggles of the racially mixed young girl, was idustrious but reading the story was exhausting. I was annoyed with all the characters. The back story that Nina was reading was more interesting. I just didn't enjoy the writing for the present-day story.
November 12, 2015
I read this book with the 13-year-old that I tutor, and my God, is it heavy-handed. Even my tutee thought that the main character's motivations and the ending were "lame" (what I like to call "nonsensical bullshit").
December 2, 2011
A well written book about a young girl feeling neither black or white, being 15, being a child of divorce and a freshman in high school.
October 5, 2015
This book could have been way better than what it was but it had some pretty good moments, mainly Nina's father's transcript.
October 24, 2018
**Spoilers**
(Sigh)....I wanted to like this book more than I did. Overall it was ok. I even teared up on parts- as a mother of a 15 year old girl I could only imagine the despair Nina's parents must have felt by her disappearance!
I am not biracial, and make no claims of knowing what that experience is like. Being of both races, I do not feel biracial people should have to "pick a side". I am though a black woman and the mother of a teenage girl- I know all too well what that experience is like. Many may disagree but I also do not feel the biracial experience is automatically the same as the black experience. It's not a matter of oppression Olympics, just different experiences.
I took real exception to the author's constant association via the characters, namely Nina and her mother equating blackness=ghetto. Black people are not a monolith, and as a whole the association to ghetto used as an adjective is Although Nina's father was black, I question just how much exposure she had to balance her culturally between he two races. She seemed to an innate fear, of black people in her mind, with the only counter being her Father. Her friend Jessica really just spoke to her own subconscious thoughts in my opinion, and had she not been part black would have wholeheartedly subscribed to that train of thought. It was clear she did not see the two races as equal. The reference to her father's black girlfriend's hair being "nappy". The description of Tyrone compared to his bother was down right along the line of Hillary Clinton describing a "Super Predator". Nina's name for the group being black=ghetto and white=preppy. Her fear of her dad's new neighborhood had less to do with new surroundings and more to do with the demographic of people living there. Every time black people were spoken about a negative connotation followed.
The idea that her mother felt she herself was not really white because she has biracial children was laughable and maddening. Again, overall it was ok. I enjoyed the slave narrative much better.
(Sigh)....I wanted to like this book more than I did. Overall it was ok. I even teared up on parts- as a mother of a 15 year old girl I could only imagine the despair Nina's parents must have felt by her disappearance!
I am not biracial, and make no claims of knowing what that experience is like. Being of both races, I do not feel biracial people should have to "pick a side". I am though a black woman and the mother of a teenage girl- I know all too well what that experience is like. Many may disagree but I also do not feel the biracial experience is automatically the same as the black experience. It's not a matter of oppression Olympics, just different experiences.
I took real exception to the author's constant association via the characters, namely Nina and her mother equating blackness=ghetto. Black people are not a monolith, and as a whole the association to ghetto used as an adjective is Although Nina's father was black, I question just how much exposure she had to balance her culturally between he two races. She seemed to an innate fear, of black people in her mind, with the only counter being her Father. Her friend Jessica really just spoke to her own subconscious thoughts in my opinion, and had she not been part black would have wholeheartedly subscribed to that train of thought. It was clear she did not see the two races as equal. The reference to her father's black girlfriend's hair being "nappy". The description of Tyrone compared to his bother was down right along the line of Hillary Clinton describing a "Super Predator". Nina's name for the group being black=ghetto and white=preppy. Her fear of her dad's new neighborhood had less to do with new surroundings and more to do with the demographic of people living there. Every time black people were spoken about a negative connotation followed.
The idea that her mother felt she herself was not really white because she has biracial children was laughable and maddening. Again, overall it was ok. I enjoyed the slave narrative much better.
April 23, 2020
This is book is fine, not bad. As a biracial person who has dealt with many of the same events I was hoping for more; While the story does center around the type of divide that can be created for people of mixed race, I felt it was addressed only on a very surface level, and lacked the weight and complexity that it could have had.
Since internal biracial conflict is not a blanketed shared experience and is unique to the individual, there was room for a more dynamic and interesting story. Frankly, you could edit out much of the issues with Nina's race and not really lose the story about living in two worlds. I found the asides to Sarah's story more interesting than Nina's, but I do think this book could be helpful for a young teen (the target audience) going through some similar struggles, regardless of their race.
Since internal biracial conflict is not a blanketed shared experience and is unique to the individual, there was room for a more dynamic and interesting story. Frankly, you could edit out much of the issues with Nina's race and not really lose the story about living in two worlds. I found the asides to Sarah's story more interesting than Nina's, but I do think this book could be helpful for a young teen (the target audience) going through some similar struggles, regardless of their race.
December 19, 2021
It has an opportunity to be good. It has an interesting story and I like that it also tells us the story of Sarah Armstrong (Nina's Great Grandmother) alongside Nina's own story. But.... It is really slow. I could get through some of the chapters but I just couldn't get into it. Nina's struggles as a biracial teen is a topic I can't comment on as I am white so I can't say I understand her struggle there but I can understand the split households. I understand how she feels. Feeling like you have to choose one or another parent but you just can't. Now the fact that it had a good story and something I understand is why it got two stars, but it almost felt like walking through sludge reading it. So that was a problem for me. Would I try to read it again if I wanted to see the end, maybe, but for right now I will say that it tried to engage me but failed.
2/5
And a gold star for effort
2/5
And a gold star for effort
June 25, 2018
This book really made me think about the reality of race and slavery. It was really eye-opening. I also found it interesting how there were two stories going on at the same time: the main story about fictional character Nina Armstrong (which took place in the present), and a secondary story that Nina's dad had written about Nina's great-great-grandmother's escape from slavery.
At times, the story dragged a little, but overall I am glad I read it.
At times, the story dragged a little, but overall I am glad I read it.
February 17, 2022
i liked the story of sarah within the story, but it felt like it was missing something. it’s written from a 15-year old girls perspective, but i just think that the concept of the story could’ve been so much more. and the ending was kinda lame. it hits on some good concepts of living as a POC i think, not that i can relate because i am a white presenting hispanic but it is good for middle school level. this was all over the place okay
February 10, 2018
A story within a story. First there is 15 year old bi-racial Nina who is finding it hard to fit in with her friends when they only accept half of her cultural identity. Not to mention she is dealing with her parents divorce. Then there is the novel her father is writing about Nina’s many great grandmother who was a slave. Both stories intertwine beautifully.
February 22, 2022
The writer portrays complex characters and big emotions in this YA book as 15 year old Nina tries to find where she fits in. The story within a story portraying Nina's great great grandmother Sarah Armstrong is fraught with tension, and doesn't gloss over, or soften her difficult journey toward Washington, and freedom. This one packs a whole lot into 200 pages.
January 21, 2020
This book is about a teen trying to figure out where she belongs. She feels like she doesn't fit in because shes's mixed but all of her friends aren't mixed like she is. You might like it because it shows struggles that a lot of mixed teens might go through.
February 11, 2021
Too young for me. Would've preferred more of the Sarah storyline.
February 10, 2017
“Funny how an absence can feel like a presence, like that space practically glows with her outline and make me notice how she's not here.”
See reviews first on my blog
Nina is a young woman who is biracial and is a freshman in high school, who is now also dealing with parents divorcing and households being split. Because of all of these changes she's angry and upset and confused. She doesn't know exactly where she belongs anymore. When she's at her moms she feels like things are missing, when she is with her dad's she feels like she doesn't fit their either with his changing opinions on things. Plus she has a younger brother who she feels like she needs to protect from the mean highschooler's all while still trying to maintain her friendships. Her dad is also writing a story about a family member that he wants Nina to help him with. This is also the one thing that helps bring her happiness in this trying time in her life.
Overall I enjoyed this book. Nina was a character that you were able to sympathize with and understand why she was feeling the way she was about her family situation changing. I was able to see kind of where the parents were coming from with Nina, but also at times I just wanted to shout at them PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR CHILDREN. Which would have made certain things that happened in the last quarter of the book not have happened at all. Which would have made this a more enjoyable story for me.
For the historical part of the book, I really enjoyed it. I like Nina found it a nice escape from the struggles that Nina was having and it was also really informative as well. As for how accurate this book is with representation I genuinely don't know. I hope it has some accuracy as it felt like it could with some of the feelings that Nina was having towards feeling torn into two different worlds and not knowing how to make them work as one.
If you know how accurate this is with representation please let me know.
<>uThank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.
See reviews first on my blog
Nina is a young woman who is biracial and is a freshman in high school, who is now also dealing with parents divorcing and households being split. Because of all of these changes she's angry and upset and confused. She doesn't know exactly where she belongs anymore. When she's at her moms she feels like things are missing, when she is with her dad's she feels like she doesn't fit their either with his changing opinions on things. Plus she has a younger brother who she feels like she needs to protect from the mean highschooler's all while still trying to maintain her friendships. Her dad is also writing a story about a family member that he wants Nina to help him with. This is also the one thing that helps bring her happiness in this trying time in her life.
Overall I enjoyed this book. Nina was a character that you were able to sympathize with and understand why she was feeling the way she was about her family situation changing. I was able to see kind of where the parents were coming from with Nina, but also at times I just wanted to shout at them PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR CHILDREN. Which would have made certain things that happened in the last quarter of the book not have happened at all. Which would have made this a more enjoyable story for me.
For the historical part of the book, I really enjoyed it. I like Nina found it a nice escape from the struggles that Nina was having and it was also really informative as well. As for how accurate this book is with representation I genuinely don't know. I hope it has some accuracy as it felt like it could with some of the feelings that Nina was having towards feeling torn into two different worlds and not knowing how to make them work as one.
If you know how accurate this is with representation please let me know.
<>uThank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 1, 2017
(2.5 stars)
This is a hard book to review. I have to say right off the bat that as I was never a bi-racial teen, I don't think I can say authoritatively if a novel realistically portrays that experience or not. That having been said, here are my salient observations:
* This is a book that (at least to me) is noticeably about race, in the way that Crowe's Mississippi Trial, 1955 is "about" race. More specifically, racism is the central conflict that drives the plot. Race/racism are uncomfortable issues to address, in all honesty, but feeling uncomfortable usually signifies that one is learning something (expanding mental boundaries) or ready to make some sort of significant change.
*I appreciated that the characters in this book seem more "real". Not necessarily when they're philosophizing out loud about racial relations (something that happens surprisingly structured for extempore speech in Mississippi Trial, 1955 as well)...but the characters act irrationally sometimes. They say or do things that don't always show the best judgment, and some people might argue that is poor characterization, but in fact I think it's effective. For the most part, Nina seems like a real person.
*The story-within-a-story didn't really work for me, though. I liked it, but it made the focus of the book kind of...skewampus. Here were my thoughts the first time one of these narrative selections showed up, when Nina's dad reads it to her as a bedtime story:
--"Oh, okay, a story-in-a-story. That's kind of cool."
--"Wait, this is kind of long. I mean, it's good, but I feel like we're derailing the main narrative here."
--"Wait, how many more pages do this thing go? Is Nina's dad seriously reading an entire chapter of his story to her, right now?"
I wish these selections had been shorter. Right when you finally feel invested in Sarah Armstrong's story, you're back in Nina's story. And the chapters mirrored up just a liiittle too closely with what Nina was experiencing. Some of Nina's post-reading musings were very deep, but those were moments where she didn't seem quite in character, where the teenager took a step back and the Author (with a capital "A") stepped in. (Again, Mississippi Trial had this same difficulty.) It's hard, though, because I think in order for a story to really make a substantive point about race and racism, there do need to be moments of musing like this. But Nina seems to go from someone who ignores race completely to someone who gets freaked out by reading slave narratives. (I think her mother trying to ban her from reading the book was a little overkill, although that particular injunction also speaks to difficulties with her failed marriage.) How do you use "moments of musing" without sounding too didactic? I do not know, and I'm sure other readers might disagree about whether these moments of dialogue sounded realistic.
*I couldn't not think of
Though I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd have liked, this book was still a good read, and I think it fits well with the other slave narratives I've read, showing readers how those stories from the past can still resonate with us today and give us hope and direction.
This is a hard book to review. I have to say right off the bat that as I was never a bi-racial teen, I don't think I can say authoritatively if a novel realistically portrays that experience or not. That having been said, here are my salient observations:
* This is a book that (at least to me) is noticeably about race, in the way that Crowe's Mississippi Trial, 1955 is "about" race. More specifically, racism is the central conflict that drives the plot. Race/racism are uncomfortable issues to address, in all honesty, but feeling uncomfortable usually signifies that one is learning something (expanding mental boundaries) or ready to make some sort of significant change.
*I appreciated that the characters in this book seem more "real". Not necessarily when they're philosophizing out loud about racial relations (something that happens surprisingly structured for extempore speech in Mississippi Trial, 1955 as well)...but the characters act irrationally sometimes. They say or do things that don't always show the best judgment, and some people might argue that is poor characterization, but in fact I think it's effective. For the most part, Nina seems like a real person.
*The story-within-a-story didn't really work for me, though. I liked it, but it made the focus of the book kind of...skewampus. Here were my thoughts the first time one of these narrative selections showed up, when Nina's dad reads it to her as a bedtime story:
--"Oh, okay, a story-in-a-story. That's kind of cool."
--"Wait, this is kind of long. I mean, it's good, but I feel like we're derailing the main narrative here."
--"Wait, how many more pages do this thing go? Is Nina's dad seriously reading an entire chapter of his story to her, right now?"
I wish these selections had been shorter. Right when you finally feel invested in Sarah Armstrong's story, you're back in Nina's story. And the chapters mirrored up just a liiittle too closely with what Nina was experiencing. Some of Nina's post-reading musings were very deep, but those were moments where she didn't seem quite in character, where the teenager took a step back and the Author (with a capital "A") stepped in. (Again, Mississippi Trial had this same difficulty.) It's hard, though, because I think in order for a story to really make a substantive point about race and racism, there do need to be moments of musing like this. But Nina seems to go from someone who ignores race completely to someone who gets freaked out by reading slave narratives. (I think her mother trying to ban her from reading the book was a little overkill, although that particular injunction also speaks to difficulties with her failed marriage.) How do you use "moments of musing" without sounding too didactic? I do not know, and I'm sure other readers might disagree about whether these moments of dialogue sounded realistic.
*I couldn't not think of
Though I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd have liked, this book was still a good read, and I think it fits well with the other slave narratives I've read, showing readers how those stories from the past can still resonate with us today and give us hope and direction.
February 20, 2021
Disappointed. I expected a lot more out of this story.
The main character, Nina, is just starting high school and dealing with her friends growing apart from her and separating themselves into groups by race. As a mixed kid, Nina doesn't know where she fits anymore. Her parents (white mother and Black father) have recently separated, with her dad already in a relationship with a new woman who helps him explore matters of Black history and culture, and her mom denying that there is such a thing as race at all, which is surprising being that she had a Black husband and two mixed kids.
This setup had a lot of potential. But it really didn't deliver. The scenes were all superficial, never really diving deep into any one issue. Nina just kept bouncing from one problem to another: her parents, her friends, her brother stealing a bike, microaggressions in the world at large. I think there needed to be a deeper focus on some of these to make the reader care more about the character.
Some of the dialogue seemed rushed and unrealistic. Nina and her mom have a blowout fight because Nina is in the middle of getting dressed and her mom demands that she come downstairs and eat oatmeal in front of her RIGHT NOW because she has to leave for work. Nina is in high school. Her mother does not need to watch her eat breakfast. It was a stupid fight. A lot of the things that Nina is getting in trouble for from her parents are really not problems at all. The parents seem petty and ridiculous.
Something else that bothered me was the whole situation with Nina trying to solve her brother's problem of being chased by a bully because her brother stole the bully's bike. Instead of her brother simply returning the bike, Nina does it weeks later. On her way to the bully's house to drop off the bike, said bully spots her riding it and chases after her. Instead of just getting off the bike and handing it over to the bully, its true owner, Nina dodges him and rides it to his house so she can prop it up against his house as she originally planned. What?! Makes no sense.
The only saving grace to this book is the story-within-a-story detailing the history of Nina's great-great-grandmother's escape from slavery. This is a project Nina's dad is working on with his new girlfriend and he lets Nina read the chapters of his manuscript as he finishes them. Her ancestor, Sarah, is a much stronger character with a much more focused story. I found myself skimming through Nina's portions of the chapters so I could find out what happened next in Sarah's story.
The author's note at the back of the book says that Joan Steinau Lester did a lot of research and based Sarah on some of the real people she discovered from history. If only she'd put as much effort into Nina's character as she did Sarah's. Nina's story needed to be more focused, perhaps on her changing friendships due to race issues and her parents' attitudes toward race, which seem to be solid reasons for them to divorce. I feel like this book was published before it went through enough revisions to tighten Nina's story. It seemed like an early draft and definitely needed more work.
The main character, Nina, is just starting high school and dealing with her friends growing apart from her and separating themselves into groups by race. As a mixed kid, Nina doesn't know where she fits anymore. Her parents (white mother and Black father) have recently separated, with her dad already in a relationship with a new woman who helps him explore matters of Black history and culture, and her mom denying that there is such a thing as race at all, which is surprising being that she had a Black husband and two mixed kids.
This setup had a lot of potential. But it really didn't deliver. The scenes were all superficial, never really diving deep into any one issue. Nina just kept bouncing from one problem to another: her parents, her friends, her brother stealing a bike, microaggressions in the world at large. I think there needed to be a deeper focus on some of these to make the reader care more about the character.
Some of the dialogue seemed rushed and unrealistic. Nina and her mom have a blowout fight because Nina is in the middle of getting dressed and her mom demands that she come downstairs and eat oatmeal in front of her RIGHT NOW because she has to leave for work. Nina is in high school. Her mother does not need to watch her eat breakfast. It was a stupid fight. A lot of the things that Nina is getting in trouble for from her parents are really not problems at all. The parents seem petty and ridiculous.
Something else that bothered me was the whole situation with Nina trying to solve her brother's problem of being chased by a bully because her brother stole the bully's bike. Instead of her brother simply returning the bike, Nina does it weeks later. On her way to the bully's house to drop off the bike, said bully spots her riding it and chases after her. Instead of just getting off the bike and handing it over to the bully, its true owner, Nina dodges him and rides it to his house so she can prop it up against his house as she originally planned. What?! Makes no sense.
The only saving grace to this book is the story-within-a-story detailing the history of Nina's great-great-grandmother's escape from slavery. This is a project Nina's dad is working on with his new girlfriend and he lets Nina read the chapters of his manuscript as he finishes them. Her ancestor, Sarah, is a much stronger character with a much more focused story. I found myself skimming through Nina's portions of the chapters so I could find out what happened next in Sarah's story.
The author's note at the back of the book says that Joan Steinau Lester did a lot of research and based Sarah on some of the real people she discovered from history. If only she'd put as much effort into Nina's character as she did Sarah's. Nina's story needed to be more focused, perhaps on her changing friendships due to race issues and her parents' attitudes toward race, which seem to be solid reasons for them to divorce. I feel like this book was published before it went through enough revisions to tighten Nina's story. It seemed like an early draft and definitely needed more work.
July 14, 2012
Expect my full review September 5, 2011 at Ramblings of an Amateur Author: http://wp.me/pPz8s-1JS
I had a rocky start with Black, White, Other. This book threw me right into the middle of a packing scene, followed by Nina (15 years old) rushing out the door to catch a bus to see her dad. And I’m thinking: her mom isn’t going to see her off? Of course, I’m thinking she’s catching a Greyhound bus. Well, at least until she missed the bus only to catch another one shortly. It also took me awhile to figure out where she lived, other than Canyon Valley that is. But what state? A few clues thrown here and there and I realized she was in the San Francisco Bay area. Overall, I think the setting could have been presented better.
Hmm. I would absolutely love to read what a teen has to say about this work, as I found the style to be heavy on the narrative. The style works in other genres, but I’m not quite sure it works for the YA crowd. Of course, my YA years are far in the past, so who knows? Maybe the teens are big into narrative styles these days.
So the actual story. Black, White, Other actually had a two for one deal going. We had Nina’s story, then within we had the story of Sarah Armstrong which was written by Nina’s father. I know this is weird, but Sarah’s story has a descriptive flare which Nina’s lacked. It was as if two different people wrote the book. I have to say, Sarah’s story intrigued me in ways Nina’s didn’t. Each chapter of Sarah’s story had a cause and effect which built toward a greater event.
Nina’s story, on the other hand, reminded me of a collection of vignettes. I wasn’t quite sure what the major plot in her story was until I neared the end and she started to make some really horrible choices. Once she started to screw up her life, her self-created problems presented opportunities to solve.
My overall impression was this wanted to be a historical fiction (Sarah’s story) while also wanting to appeal to the young adult crowd (Nina’s story). Truthfully, I think the book missed the mark. Sarah’s story had the potential to be so much more, but sandwiched between Nina’s it didn’t offer nearly enough time to explore her situation. Nina’s story, well… she spent so much time acting out, I had a hard time sympathizing and connecting with her character. And as I mentioned above, it was lacking in the area of plot.
If I were to rate the two stories separately, I would give Sarah’s story a solid 3 and Nina’s story a 2.
Like I said, I’m really curious about the opinions young folks had on this book.
I received this work from the publisher in exchange for a review.
I had a rocky start with Black, White, Other. This book threw me right into the middle of a packing scene, followed by Nina (15 years old) rushing out the door to catch a bus to see her dad. And I’m thinking: her mom isn’t going to see her off? Of course, I’m thinking she’s catching a Greyhound bus. Well, at least until she missed the bus only to catch another one shortly. It also took me awhile to figure out where she lived, other than Canyon Valley that is. But what state? A few clues thrown here and there and I realized she was in the San Francisco Bay area. Overall, I think the setting could have been presented better.
Hmm. I would absolutely love to read what a teen has to say about this work, as I found the style to be heavy on the narrative. The style works in other genres, but I’m not quite sure it works for the YA crowd. Of course, my YA years are far in the past, so who knows? Maybe the teens are big into narrative styles these days.
So the actual story. Black, White, Other actually had a two for one deal going. We had Nina’s story, then within we had the story of Sarah Armstrong which was written by Nina’s father. I know this is weird, but Sarah’s story has a descriptive flare which Nina’s lacked. It was as if two different people wrote the book. I have to say, Sarah’s story intrigued me in ways Nina’s didn’t. Each chapter of Sarah’s story had a cause and effect which built toward a greater event.
Nina’s story, on the other hand, reminded me of a collection of vignettes. I wasn’t quite sure what the major plot in her story was until I neared the end and she started to make some really horrible choices. Once she started to screw up her life, her self-created problems presented opportunities to solve.
My overall impression was this wanted to be a historical fiction (Sarah’s story) while also wanting to appeal to the young adult crowd (Nina’s story). Truthfully, I think the book missed the mark. Sarah’s story had the potential to be so much more, but sandwiched between Nina’s it didn’t offer nearly enough time to explore her situation. Nina’s story, well… she spent so much time acting out, I had a hard time sympathizing and connecting with her character. And as I mentioned above, it was lacking in the area of plot.
If I were to rate the two stories separately, I would give Sarah’s story a solid 3 and Nina’s story a 2.
Like I said, I’m really curious about the opinions young folks had on this book.
I received this work from the publisher in exchange for a review.
September 30, 2016
Nina Armstrong didn't think much about being biracial until her parents split up. She didn't think much about her creamy mocha skin and curly brown and red hair. Until her parents decided to divorce, she didn't really feel the need to "pick a side." Now that her darker-skinned brother, Jimi, has moved out with their [black] dad and she has stayed living with her [white] mom, though, she is starting to question things much more. Especially with racial tensions in Oakland rising at the same time as her parents' split, Nina starts to feel like she doesn't belong anywhere. She begins to feel too black around the white kids and too white around the black kids. Some of her best friends suddenly start to treat her differently, and she can't seem to coexist peacefully with her mom or her dad. She is also worried about Jimi, who seems to have fallen in with the wrong crowd, but she is worried that seeking help for him will make matters worse, or at least drive him away. The only person she seems to feel a connection with is her great-great-grandmother, Sarah Armstrong -- about whom she hadn't even know until her father shared the manuscript for the book he was writing. As she reads about the lengths to which Sarah went, to learn how to read and to escape slavery, she finds the courage she needs to face her own struggles.
I thought this title was perfect to share right during #BannedBooksWeek, considering Sarah Armstrong's epiphany that she had become a "feared posession: property that could read." Modern day activists like Malala Yousafzai are quick to remind us ignorance makes people unable to make educated decisions about their own lives and the world around them. If the masses are kept ignorant, it is easier for the people in power to control them. This book is also a good conversation starter for people who are interested in delving more deeply into the history of race relations in the US and the #BlackLivesMatter movement that is still/currently making headlines.
Happy Reading!
I thought this title was perfect to share right during #BannedBooksWeek, considering Sarah Armstrong's epiphany that she had become a "feared posession: property that could read." Modern day activists like Malala Yousafzai are quick to remind us ignorance makes people unable to make educated decisions about their own lives and the world around them. If the masses are kept ignorant, it is easier for the people in power to control them. This book is also a good conversation starter for people who are interested in delving more deeply into the history of race relations in the US and the #BlackLivesMatter movement that is still/currently making headlines.
Happy Reading!
September 30, 2011
Identity is a concept familiar to all. It is something that is struggled with daily and not easily defined. Who am I? Our gifts, talents, experiences, and ancestors make us who we are. For most, adolescence is the first attempt to piece together the puzzle of ourselves. Grappling with identity is frightening, but even more terrifying is being a biracial teen struggling with this issue when the world familiar to you crashes down.
In Black, White, Other, Nina Armstrong, a product of mixed parentage, a white mother and black father, seeks to regain her identity once her parent’s divorce completely alters the life she has always known, forcing her to view things in a manner alien to her. Rejected by friends for refusing to pick a side and live in a world that is either black or white, Nina stands alone. Feeling a connection to a dead ancestor, Nina sets out to explore how her life is akin to her enslaved great-great-grandmother. We follow Nina Armstrong on her tumultuous journey as she attempts to answer the elusive question “Who am I?”
Lester’s concept of ‘other’ applies to more than just biracial or multiracial youth, but it describes us all as we at some point in our lives feel or has felt like an outsider, longing to be like everybody else. Lester’s employment of a novel-within-a-novel does well to enlighten students of aspects of slavery and individuals during that period that may not be discussed in school, such as Henry “Box” Brown and Dr. Alexander Ross. Also, Lester calls attention to modern-day slavery, stereotypes, and racial profiling. Even though these issues are addressed, Lester does not delve into them. Failing to explore any of these issues deeper, especially Nina’s racial profiling incident, the reader is deprived of how these experiences affect Nina’s expedition to self-discovery.
Black, White, Other, adequately describes the emotions of identity-lost teenagers. The glossary in the back of the book is an excellent reference for readers. Likewise, the discussion and follow-up questions at the end of the novel are excellent resources for teachers, book clubs, and for anyone who does not fit neatly into one defined category and is simply “other.”
In Black, White, Other, Nina Armstrong, a product of mixed parentage, a white mother and black father, seeks to regain her identity once her parent’s divorce completely alters the life she has always known, forcing her to view things in a manner alien to her. Rejected by friends for refusing to pick a side and live in a world that is either black or white, Nina stands alone. Feeling a connection to a dead ancestor, Nina sets out to explore how her life is akin to her enslaved great-great-grandmother. We follow Nina Armstrong on her tumultuous journey as she attempts to answer the elusive question “Who am I?”
Lester’s concept of ‘other’ applies to more than just biracial or multiracial youth, but it describes us all as we at some point in our lives feel or has felt like an outsider, longing to be like everybody else. Lester’s employment of a novel-within-a-novel does well to enlighten students of aspects of slavery and individuals during that period that may not be discussed in school, such as Henry “Box” Brown and Dr. Alexander Ross. Also, Lester calls attention to modern-day slavery, stereotypes, and racial profiling. Even though these issues are addressed, Lester does not delve into them. Failing to explore any of these issues deeper, especially Nina’s racial profiling incident, the reader is deprived of how these experiences affect Nina’s expedition to self-discovery.
Black, White, Other, adequately describes the emotions of identity-lost teenagers. The glossary in the back of the book is an excellent reference for readers. Likewise, the discussion and follow-up questions at the end of the novel are excellent resources for teachers, book clubs, and for anyone who does not fit neatly into one defined category and is simply “other.”
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