Skin Again

      Overall, I felt this story was not a particularly controversial one. Its content was presented in a very peaceful manner; however, the topic of racism is quite controversial so I can understand why it would be categorized as potentially controversial. My initial reaction was that of a positive one, where I hadn't encountered a negative statement or situation of the story, so I felt this was promoting a good message in an eased manner.
      "The skin I'm in is just a covering. It cannot tell my story"... is how the book begins. I found that to be a very powerful quote. The author reuses it throughout the story to reiterate the message's theme. The illustrations were abstract and the words rhymed. I loved the message of equality that was expressed, but found it a bit distracting that the sentences carried over from one page to another. At times, I found myself losing my train of thought or understanding of the sentence as a whole, because it was so scattered over the pages. I think that would be a weak point to share with the students, because they may not fully grasp what it all means.

Skin Again
By: Bell Hooks
Illustrated by: Chris Raschka
Published in 2004