๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ: Brown Girl ๐
๐๐๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ: Leilani Taneus-Miller โ๏ธ
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๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ:
This novel gives Insight into all experiences big and small that chip away at a personโs sense of worth.ย
I can really relate with the main character of the story, Shelly – being a brown kid in a white neighbourhood is not easy, not at the time the novel is set in early 1980โs, not so far off the changes coming out of the civil rights movement where prejudice was as yet deeply rooted.
Shelly is isolated at school and gets sent to the Headmasterโs office frequently – not for her wrongs but to keep her out of the way and in many cases to keep her out of harms way, away from the relentless preteens who bully her because she is black. It seems so unfair yet entirely believable.
I was so surprised that the Headmaster of her school constantly turned a blind eye to the physical and emotional abuse being doled out on a daily basis by Shellyโs would-be peers and class teacher. The only way she can shut out all the sneers and insults is to retreat into her inner world of stories, books and fantasies about being in her ancestral homeland (which are fantastically written).
I kept wondering will she be successful in befriending any of her classmates? And hoping the kids in her school would go against the grain to be her friend.
I liked Shellyโs character so much and I also loved the character of Dolly in the story – they both handle life with intrigue and humour. And I couldnโt help but fall in love with Hetty just as much as Shelly does.
Although Shelly sees herself as not brave, I found her incredibly courageous to carry on day in and day out, as if she is holding out for the other people in the novel to change. I found myself thinking that maybe she brings about their change with her patience and tenacity.
This is an intriguing story that I couldn’t put down until I finished it. The title of the story couldn’t have been better than this as this is truly the story of a brown girl.
- ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด: 5/5
โ Book Is Available On Amazon
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