Synopsis
Spunky and headstrong, Cameron blasts music, challenges adults, and cuts class when she feels like it. She lives with her single mom in Brooklyn and hangs out with best friends Amanda, P, and Crystal. Life in their working-class neighborhood is pretty cool until Cameron's mother suddenly loses her job and can no longer afford the rent. Move to public housing? YG2BK! But no one's kidding, and Cameron finds herself living in the projects. Can a white girl from across town hope to be accepted by the black girls in the projects? A revelation from the past forces Cameron to confront a startling truth that just might put things in perspective . . . that is, if Cameron can handle it.
Hilarious, surprising, and defiantly candid, Off-Color is a thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining new novel from Janet McDonald. Hip and wise, the author grabs the readers and doesn't let go.
Children's Literature
Raised on the streets of Brooklyn by her single mother, Cameron Storm is an independent and feisty teen who enjoys singing into her hairbrush, texting her friends, and occasionally playing hooky at Coney Island. Her world is flipped upside down when she discovers that her mother has lost her job and they will be moving to the projects. Cameron thinks this is the most chaotic thing to happen in her young life, but she is wrong. When she discovers a secret that her mother has spent her entire life hiding, the revelation sends Cameron's view of herself tumbling to the ground. In her new surroundings, Cameron learns things about her mother, her family, her culture, and herself that she never thought possible. Ultimately, this is a story of ethnic identity and one teen's struggle to come to terms with her place in the world. After making new friends and discovering new insights, she learns to accept both sides of her heritage. This would be an excellent read for any teen girl struggling to find herself and to come to terms with questions of ethnic identity. Reviewer: Ginny Sautner