Off-Color

by Janet McDonald

Spunky and headstrong, Cameron blasts music, challenges adults, and cuts class when she feels like it. She lives with her single mom in Brooklyn and hangs out with best friends Amanda, P, and Crystal. Life in their working-class neighborhood is pretty cool until Cameron's mother suddenly loses her job and can no longer afford the rent. Move to public housing? YG2BK! But no one's kidding, and Cameron finds herself living in the projects. Can a white girl from across town hope to be accepted by the black girls in the projects? A revelation from the past forces Cameron to confront a startling truth that just might put things in perspective . . . that is, if Cameron can handle it.

Hilarious, surprising, and defiantly candid, Off-Color is a thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining new novel from Janet McDonald. Hip and wise, the author grabs the readers and doesn't let go.

Genres: Young Adult

176 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2007

About the author

Janet McDonald was an American writer of young adult novels as well as the author of 'Project Girl', a memoir about her early life in the Brooklyn projects and struggle to achieve an Ivy League education. Her best known children's book is Spellbound, which tells the story of a teenaged mother who wins a spelling competition and a college scholarship. The book was named as the American Library Association's Best Book for Young Adults in 2002.

In addition to books, McDonald also wrote articles for publications such as Slate, including one in which she paid psychic Sylvia Browne $700 for a telephone reading. McDonald was a member of Mensa, the high IQ society.

After graduating from Vassar (1977), Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (1984), and New York University Law School (1986), McDonald practiced law in New York City (1986-1989) and Seattle (1989-1991). She took a position as an intern at a Paris law firm (1991-1993) before moving to Olympia, Washington to work in the Attorney General's office and teach French language classes at Evergreen State College. McDonald settled in Paris in 1995 to work first as an international attorney and then as a writer, until she died of cancer in 2007


For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/janet-mc...

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters in this book are 2D and the issues the main character faces are solved way too easily. She finds out she's biracial about half way through the book, I'm not giving anything away because it's pretty clear from the beginning that that's what's going to happen, and by the end of the book she's totally settled into her new identity, seemingly because she does a lot of internet research about famous biracial people. It seems like the author is trying to make the point that biracial people are both races at once, which makes sense, but then she spends a lot of time using the stereotypes we all know so well about the differences between white and Black people. Sort of the classic, white people can't dance but Black people can, Black women are more fun and sassy than white women, kind of crap. I think that people's racial identities are way more complicated than that and it doesn't make any sense that she would just get it all together that fast. There must be better books out there about biracial identity for kids.

Also, the dialogue and slang are really stilted. The author was clearly trying to be accurate with her teen-speak, but she failed. Also, this book was published after the author's death, so I hate to trash on her too much. If she'd been alive to revise it more, maybe it would have been better.

The one thing that interested me about this book was how McDonald handled class and the intersection of class and race. The main character and her mother live in a white working class neighborhood at the beginning of the book, I think it's Ditmas Park or Coney Island, and then the mother gets a new lower paying job in a different neighborhood and they have to move to the projects. At first they're both terrified, but then they realize that it's not as dangerous and horrible as they thought, and that people are nice to them there. There are a lot of poor white people in this world who are scared of poor people of color and that is really interesting to me. McDonald doesn't do an especially adept job of handling the issue, but I think it's in there enough to get kids thinking about it a little bit.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book read it in middle school and I'm 24 now haha

[Nate Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Off-Color, written by Janet McDonald, is a spunky book about a teenage girl named Cameron and her mother living in various parts of New York. Cameron would be described as a white girl. She has blue eyes, fair skin, and long hair but she finds out her true identity when she moved to the projects. Cameron finding out that she is half black not only surprised her, but also encouraged her to get out of her comfort zone and have new experiences. This book shows the struggles in which society deals with racial profiling and how it might impact people of different ethnicities. Also it shows the effects of being bi-racial and what reactions a person might endure. This was a great modern book but there were some things I enjoyed and disliked while reading.

There was much to like about this book. The use of modern day English and slang allowed me to feel like I'm talking to one of my friends. Another thing that I liked about the book was the perspective of a white girl in a predominantly black neighborhood. I enjoyed seeing how the main protagonist would deal with and solve problems that would face her way. One last thing that I liked was the humor of the book. It's humor made the book seem fun to read and not boring to read. Although I had many things I enjoyed there were two main things that I didn't. The main character was able to solve her problems too easily and quickly. I wanted to see the character struggle for a few chapters rather than a few pages. Also that ties into my next problem which was the length. I believe if the book was longer there could have been more problems the protagonist could have endured and solved. Overall I enjoyed this book a lot.

After reading Off-Color, I can say this was an excellent book. With all of the humor and ghetto situations, there will not be a page that you will not be entertained and a good laugh. I would recommend this book for anyone that is in high school. Anyone who can relate to living in projects or bad neighborhoods would get a good laugh out of this book. All and all this was a great read and people should read this book because it won't take long.

[me,myself and hubbz dats all · Rating 5 out of 5]

off color is a great book it talks about something that most people wonder about everyday, if my is white and my father is black am i white,black or biracial?? in this book it talks about a girl and her three friends and how they try to come to a conclusion about whether or not your consider white or black if you have mixed parents they came to a conclusion that if you look white you are white if you look black you are black. in this book one of the girls finds out that she has a black father but all her life she was raised as a white girl so she trys to come to the conclusion of whether or not she white or black she has tan skin green eyes bit she has kinky hair. she came to the conclusion she was biracial and nothing more or less i would recommend that people in general should read this book they will learn a lot from it

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't really like this book at all. Actually, though I am usually a big advocate of sticking with a book even if you don't like it that much, I gave myself permission to stop reading this one because I disliked it so much. The language seems so forced, as if the author is trying too hard to sound like a teenager. Much of the slang and texting language just feels unnatural; it was as if the author was writing in a language in which she was not fluent, and that just made it annoying. Also, though I stopped kind of early in the book, the story felt disjointed and the characters seemed a little shallow.

[Nana-esi Igyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Fiction
Tags:New Life,Teen
Lexile Score: 760L

Book Review: This author has done an excellent job in keeping this book eye catching to youth growing up in this generation. Many allusions to modern culture are throughout the novel. Therefore, I feel that this book is very entertaining and worth reading.

Book Plot: Cameron was a girl who skipped school, disrespected and could less about adults, and did whatever she wanted. However, when her mom lost her job and could no longer afford their home, everything changed. Instead of living in their pleasant,normal,home,Cameron only choice now was to live in the risk-filled projects. Could Cameron adapt to life in a whole new neighborhood?

[Erin Sterling · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cameron lives in Brooklyn with her mom, who works at a nail salon, and has never met her father. When her mom loses her job and they're forced to move to the projects where they stand out as white people, Cameron learns about herself and faces changing notions of identity. The characters are limited and stereotyped, the writing seems forced, and the plot is interesting enough to keep you reading but disappointing.

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think that Janet McDonald is a fine and interesting author, but Off-Color fell far short of her usual standard. The characters were flat with unrealistic voices, the slang and music will be dated quickly (if it isn't already), and the story was preachy rather than substantive.

Also, I can't help cringing when an author uses slang and then translates it for the reader. Oof.

[WCPL Teens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cameron has never known her father; her mother has raised her. When her mother loses her job and they have to move to the projects, Cameron's worried about leaving her old friends behind and isn't sure what kind of people she'll meet. And when she discovers that her father was black, that confuses things even more.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other than the fact that this occasionally sounds like it was written by someone trying to be a lot younger and more hip than they were, I enjoyed this book. The characters are rich and well-rounded and despite being geared at a young teen audience, it has a realistic feel. There's not a lot of deep thought involved and the plot isn't complicated, but it's an enjoyable read.

[Alexa Hamilton · Rating 1 out of 5]

While I found the issues in this book interesting and poignant, I found the characters stiff and implausible and the ending too easily tied together. Raises good issues but doe snot make for great reading.

[The Library Lady · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was Janet McDonald's last book and it feels as if it's an outline that never got properly developed.
The characters are cardboardy. The situations are not believable.And the ending is pat and empty.

[Jessy · Rating 2 out of 5]

daaaaated, terrible cover, slow slow start, I know this was released posthumously and I wonder if it went through many author drafts at all.
This book is a good example of crap description: please don't tell me things on the book flap that happen over half-way through the book.

[Juice Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

- I think this is a good book , about how a young girl was raised with a stereotype that all black are mean , ghetto , & dirty , so when she finally moves into the projects & learns thats shes half black she stops thinking that way .

[Bryan S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cameron had her sweet sixteen and she is not happy that her black friends and white friends can't get along. I it's mostly about fitting in her neigborhood.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is thumbs up but the characters are flat and the slang is annoyong, especially when the author translates it. :(

[Randy Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book was too predictable, and although the plot was decent, I think the teen slang is annoying and the book stereotypes lots of stuff

[Richa Bhatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was amazing and finding you're true identity