Joan Steinau Lester

"...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."… (más)

Nina has a Black father and a White mother. She looks White, but race has never been an issue in her family until her father moves out when she turns fifteen. It seemed like her father changed overnight, blaming Whites for the race riots in nearby Oakland California.

Read the rest of my review on my blog: http://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2012/12/15/black-white-other-in-search-o...
… (más)

Issues of race and identity.

This young-adult book will strike a chord with many of today's youngsters, either because they find themselves in this situation, or because others they know are struggling with similar problems to Nina.
Nina is American, has a white mother, black father and a mixed brother who is darker than she is. She hadn't seen this as a problem until her parents decide to divorce and she stays with her mother, while her younger brother goes to live with her Dad. At the same time, her classmates suddenly seem to have a problem with her colour, which didn't seem to be an issue before - is this because she has become more aware of race, or just an age thing, as teenagers grow and become more self-aware? Either way, Nina finds herself fitting into neither the black, white, nor mixed-race camps.

An interesting side theme has Nina's Dad writing a book about his Great-Grandmother, Sarah Armstrong, who lived as a slave and, at fifteen, escaped to Canada. Nina gradually reads the chapters of her father's book as he writes them and it does serve to put her struggles into some sort of perspective. There are certainly similarities when Nina decides to run away from home, but no-one is chasing her to bring her back into captivity, or threatening to beat her almost to death.

The ending was a little contrived, but the message was clear enough.
I listened to this in Audible format, excellently read by Bahni Turpin.
I see the author has a second novel, recently released, Mama's Child, on a similar theme. Although not currently available on Audible, I will certainly be on the look-out for this one.… (más)

Nina Armstrong is a biracial teenager living in the East Bay San Francisco area. She’s just turned fifteen and is still getting used to the idea. Her dad, Silas, is African American and her mom, Maggie, is Caucasian. That Nina is biracial was never a big deal partially because her parents were so together on everything, at least until they decided to get a divorce. Then Nina’s whole world turned upside down. Read the rest of my review at target="_top">http://popcornreads.com/?p=1664… (más)