Finding My Place - Traci L. Jones
Tiphanie lives in Colorado, but in a neighborhood with mostly African Americans. But her parents are offered better jobs and they move 30 minutes away, to a new neighborhood that is definitely not what she is used to. The school, Brent Hills, only has one other African American student. Tiphanie's not sure what she's going to do. How is she going to make friends here? And when Tiphanie thinks she'll never find a friend and forever be ignored, she meets Jackie Sue. Jackie Sue is a white girl, who proudly proclaims she is "walking trailer trash" and has an impressive vocabulary. Tiphanie begins to feel more comfortable at her school and soon begins making more friends.But she still has some worries: Something is wrong with Jackie Sue and she won't tell Tiphanie what's wrong. And it seems Tiphanie doesn't really fit with her old neighborhood or old friends anymore. Has she really changed all that much?This book surprised me. It was okay at first, but it ended up being really good. I stayed up most of last night reading it and I didn't want to stop. Tiphanie is a good character, a strong character and is willing to stand up for herself and others. She is also trying to find her place, find where she fits in. I think the book also teaches that anyone can be racist. Even Tiphanie's parents seemed a bit prejudice themselves. I think she learns though that people are people and anyone can be a jerk.I did feel bad for her because her parents expected so, so much from her. But it was a really good book with good characters and teaches some stuff.