The Skin Im In
Jennifer Suarez Gonzalez
Summer Reading Packet
Period, 2th ‘The Skin I’m In’
This story by Sharon Flake is a very despairing story. It shows all of the pain and suffering a young girl named Maleeka had to face growing up. Maleeka was bullied because of her skin color. She was a little darker than everybody else so she was teased terribly because of it. For example, on page 3 of The Skin I’m In, John-John would make fun of her color by making a song about how her skin is so dark that they “just can’t see her”. She even internalized this belief by referring to herself as a “thing” when she described how she was the darkest.
Ever since her father died they became poor. He was the provider. Her mother couldn’t afford to buy her clothes, so she decided to make them for her. She was teased because of that too. She was teased so bad to the point where she just started to become ashamed of herself. She had a very low self-esteem. Maleeka went from being a straight a student to a failing student. One day Maleeka decided to turn to a girl named Charlese, who was someone who always had to be in control and wanted to run everybody and everything. They made a deal that Maleeka would do her homework, chores, and all of her dirty work for her in return for clothes. Maleeka thought that if she would wear better clothes that would be one less thing the kids could tease her about. When Maleeka gets a new teacher named Miss Saunders. She had a rare skin disease. Maleeka realized that Miss Saunder wasn’t ashamed of the skin she was in, so why should she be ashamed of the skin she was in. I think the moral of the story is it doesn’t matter what people think of you, you’re beautiful in your own way. You have family and your real friends that love you just the way you are and that’s all that matters. Maleeka started becoming comfortable in her own skin when she realized that she was tired of allowing what other people say or do
Summer Reading Packet
Period, 2th ‘The Skin I’m In’
This story by Sharon Flake is a very despairing story. It shows all of the pain and suffering a young girl named Maleeka had to face growing up. Maleeka was bullied because of her skin color. She was a little darker than everybody else so she was teased terribly because of it. For example, on page 3 of The Skin I’m In, John-John would make fun of her color by making a song about how her skin is so dark that they “just can’t see her”. She even internalized this belief by referring to herself as a “thing” when she described how she was the darkest.
Ever since her father died they became poor. He was the provider. Her mother couldn’t afford to buy her clothes, so she decided to make them for her. She was teased because of that too. She was teased so bad to the point where she just started to become ashamed of herself. She had a very low self-esteem. Maleeka went from being a straight a student to a failing student. One day Maleeka decided to turn to a girl named Charlese, who was someone who always had to be in control and wanted to run everybody and everything. They made a deal that Maleeka would do her homework, chores, and all of her dirty work for her in return for clothes. Maleeka thought that if she would wear better clothes that would be one less thing the kids could tease her about. When Maleeka gets a new teacher named Miss Saunders. She had a rare skin disease. Maleeka realized that Miss Saunder wasn’t ashamed of the skin she was in, so why should she be ashamed of the skin she was in. I think the moral of the story is it doesn’t matter what people think of you, you’re beautiful in your own way. You have family and your real friends that love you just the way you are and that’s all that matters. Maleeka started becoming comfortable in her own skin when she realized that she was tired of allowing what other people say or do