Blended

by Sharon M. Draper

Scott County Library hardcover 308 pages

Published: 2018

Genre: YA realistic fiction

 

This is one of the 2021-22 Maud Hart Lovelace nominees. Draper is a fantastic author and this was another good read. From the cover blurb: "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 switching 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?" 

The comments being referenced here are about her looks, of course. How unusual and "exotic" and "what" is she . . . but the aspects of the story that felt really true to life beyond her racial identity dealt with being the child of divorce and her identity as a human being. 

 

Page 39: "It took him a few clicks before he finally said, 'The world looks at Black people differently. It's not fair, but it's true.'" 

Isabella and her dad are talking about their clothing and people's perceptions. The whole conversation is so personal and beautiful, though painful too.

 

Pages 79-83: "By the time they're finished, I feel like throwing up. I don't see Imani anywhere."

The whole thread of questioning after Isabella's friend Imani had a noose hung in her locker infuriated me! How could any adult working with kids talk to a clearly scared eleven-year-old as though they're interrogating a hardened criminal?!

Page 117: "Class time goes by so quickly: I'm still reading stuff when the bell rings."

I love it when this happens to students! They get so engaged in what they're learning that they lose track of time. In this case, Isabella is reading poems by Langston Hughes. I love how Draper effortlessly added in so many great educational lessons. I hadn't read Hughes' poem Cross before, and both that and Isabella's (Draper's) response poem Criss Cross . . . really good stuff!

Page 146: "Mr. Kazilly gave us a poem by some guy named Joyce Kilmer. What mother names her son Joyce?"

The poem is Trees and it was lovely to read it again, especially the last line: "Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree." Isabella's comment about Kilmer's first name is just classic kid observation!

 

Page 189: "Monogamy means 'being married to only one person at a time.' Makes sense to me. Misogamy means 'hatred of marriage.' I guess that's how my parents felt before they split up."

Isabella's language arts vocab words fit into the story so well and help to move the story along. Love this! Never having heard the word "misogamy" before, it made me think of a misogynist. I love words (even when they represent ugly ideas).

 

Page 220: "Darren rushed home from a date. He didn't try to explain stuff away like Mom and Dad did. When he walked into my room, I erupted into a full ugly-face cry. He sat close, handed me tissues, and didn't say a single word. Didn't even check his phone once."

Darren is Isabella's soon-to-be step-brother. He is a teenage boy, but he is such a good older brother / friend to Isabella. He is one of my favorite characters in the book. When Isabella's mom and dad have a major scene at the weekly "handoff," she absolutely goes off, running away from both of her parents and out into the stormy evening.

Page 271: (you must read this book . . . )

This page shocked me. And upset me. Part of the reason it upset me is that it was so easily believable. I cried. Draper wrote this so well.

This book is amazing. It deals with racial profiling, marriage and divorce, adolescence, relationships, finding personal strengths (Isabella is an amazing piano player), and so much more. It is a well-told story and worth reading!