Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong

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 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 drawn every day.

Between the fractures within her family and the racial tensions splintering her hometown, Nina feels caught in perpetual battle. Stranded in a nowhere land of ethnic boundaries, and struggling for personal independence and identity, Nina turns to the story of her great-great-grandmother’s escape from slavery in hopes of finding her own compass to help navigate the challenges before her.

＂Lester conjures a credible plot and complications; divorce is a fact of life and racially mixed heritage is conspicuously becoming one. The simple contrapuntal narrative of Sarah Armstrong’s escaping slavery distinguishes the book emotionally and psychologically, raising it above other issue-oriented Young Adult novels. Lester writes with social sensitivity and an ear for teen language and concerns. This is engaging treatment of a challenging subject that comes with little precedent.＂ * -- Starred Publishers Weekly Review

＂The tenderness and truth of your book moved my heart. As well as the enormous love you have.＂ -- Alice Walker

＂Teens will be caught by the alternating stories, and yes, by the messages about...prejudice, then and now, which will make for great group discussion.＂ -- Booklist