Another theme that would be important to discuss in
today's world (and/or today's classroom) would be school bullying. One doesn't have to
look even further than the main character: Maleeka Madison. Maleeka is the main victim
of the bullying. In fact, she is teased mercilessly both for her skin color and her
homemade dresses.
If bullying is a theme then there is not
only a victim, but also at least one bully. The irony of the bully's in this book is
that they involve almost all of the other school children including the only other black
boy in the class. Further, it should surprise the reader that another black child
should bully another one about being the very same skin
color.
Another aspect of the bullying theme is the
discovery of how the main victim (Maleeka) deals with it. Other than having severely
low self-esteem, Maleeka tries to cope with the bullying by befriending the roughest
girl in the school, Charlese, yet another bully. Of course, by the end of the story,
Maleeka realizes that neither bullying nor being bullied is the answer. Maleeka learns
to love "the skin I'm in."
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