Blended

The Resource Blended
Label
Blended
Statement of responsibility
Sharon M. Draper
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • Piano-prodigy Isabella, eleven, whose black father and white mother struggle to share custody, never feels whole, especially as racial tensions affect her school, her parents both become engaged, and she and her stepbrother are stopped by police
  • Eleven-year-old Isabella's parents are divorced, so she has to switch lives every week: One week she's Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and her son Darren living in a fancy house where they are one of the only black families in the neighborhood. The next week she's Izzy with her mom and her boyfriend John-Mark in a small, not-so-fancy house that she loves. Because of this, Isabella has always felt pulled between two worlds. And now that her parents are divorced, it seems their fights are even worse, and they're always about HER. Isabella feels completely stuck in the middle, split and divided between them more than ever. And she is beginning to realize that being split between Mom and Dad involves more than switching houses, switching nicknames, switching backpacks: it's also about switching identities. Her dad is black, her mom is white, and strangers are always commenting: "You're so exotic!" "You look so unusual." "But what are you really?" She knows what they're really saying: "You don't look like your parents." "You're different." "What race are you really?" And when her parents, who both get engaged at the same time, get in their biggest fight ever, Isabella doesn't just feel divided, she feels ripped in two. What does it mean to be half white or half black? To belong to half mom and half dad? And if you're only seen as half of this and half of that, how can you ever feel whole? It seems like nothing can bring Isabella's family together again--until the worst thing happens. Isabella and Darren are stopped by the police. A cell phone is mistaken for a gun. And shots are fired. -- Provided by publisher
  • "You're so exotic!!" "You look so unusual." "But what are you really?" Eleven-year-old Isabella - whose father is black and mother is white - is used to these kinds of comments, but it doesn't mean she likes them. And now that her parents are divorced (and getting along WORSE than ever), Isabella feels like a push-me-pull-me toy. Being split between Mom and Dad is more than swtiching houses, switching nicknames, switching backpacks: It's switching identities. If you're only seen as half of this and half of that, how can you ever feel whole? -- From dust jacket
  • I reach out and touch my father's hand. I look at my pale fingers next to his. "Daddy?" "What, sweetie?" "Do you think people think I'm Black or white when they see me? Am I Black? Or white?" His lips turn up into the slightest of smiles. I can't tell if it's a sad one, though. He looks at me with his bright brown-almost-black eyes, eyes with thick lashes just like mine. "Yes" is his reply. "Yes."--Jacket
Awards note
  • Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2019
  • School Library Journal's Best Books, 2018
Cataloging source
DLC
Dewey number
  • [Fic]
  • 813
Index
no index present
Intended audience
  • 610L
  • Structure indicator: 90 (high)
  • Syntactic indicator: 90 (high)
  • Semantic indicator: 100 (very high)
  • Decoding indicator: 100 (very high)
Intended audience source
  • Lexile
  • Lexile
Interest level
MG
LC call number
  • PZ7.D78325
  • PS3604.R37
LC item number
  • Ble 2018
  • B54 2018
Literary form
fiction
Reading level
4.0
Study program name
Accelerated Reader
Target audience
juvenile

Context

Context of Blended

Work of

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