This is not Black joy. This is Black frustration, Black grit, Black abuse, and Black redemption. Char, the bully from Draper’s The Skin I’m In, is being sent to her grandparents after both parents had been murdered and her older sister found it difficult to provide any sense of normalcy. Char boards the Greyhound to Alabama but only makes it about 1/2 the way before disembarking with a baby in tow. Trying to be the adulting mother she so desperately needs herself, Char gets groomed into human trafficking.

This story is raw. This story made me mad. Why did Sharon Flake even need to tell Char’s next chapter after her award-winning book from two decades ago? The question of why Char was such a bully to Maleeka is not answered per se but readers see the weakness of Char and she is allowed to be redeemed in Maleeka’s eyes. Maleeka and Char are both stronger characters by the close of this text. Char does survive, but not without scaring readers along the way.

Sharon Flake wrote this book to get under the skin that you’re in – no matter what color. And it will.