Parents by Jill Cook

Hey guys!

I’m going to talk about the fact the in almost all the books we’ve read the parents are so screwed up! I read the first few pages of “A Yellow Raft in Blue Water” and of course the mom is an alcoholic who randomly goes to the hospital and leaves her fifteen-year-old daughter to take care of her. She then threatens suicide to get back at her husband. Meanwhile the father hasn’t called her daughter in five months. Then there’s birdie in “Caucasia” whose parents never look out for her best interests. She is separated from her one true friend, Cole, and her father. In “Face” Maibelle does not get along with her parents because her mother is very self-centered and her father is extremely closed off and not interested in sharing his experiences in order to help Maibelle.

In all three books the characters have major issues with their mixed race background, be it from not knowing who to identify with to blatant racism from their peers. I am extremely interested in finding a book that shows the life of a mixed race individual whose parents are supportive of their child and help that child deal with the obstacles presented to mixed race people. Unfortunately, there probably isn’t a book like that out there because all the drama of dealing with parents adds to the book and makes it more interesting.

Sorry for the late post!

Jill