I'm Down

I'm Down by Mishna Wolff, 273 pages

As she points out in the prologue, Mishna Wolff is white. Her mom, her dad, her sister... all white. But her dad thinks he's black, and so after her parents divorce, Mishna and her sister live with their dad in a predominantly black and poor neighborhood in the Seattle area, playing double-dutch and having their hair braided into cornrows while their dad plays dominoes. While her dad and sister feel completely at home in their surroundings, nerdy and quiet Mishna can't help but feel out-of-place in their rough neighborhood and questionable public school. But it isn't any better when she starts attending a mostly-white school for gifted kids either, as they see her secondhand clothes and neighborhood-learned behaviors as weird.

It's an interesting story, though certainly not a universal one. What just about everybody can identify with, however, is that awkward feeling of not belonging, as well as Mishna's growing confidence as she begins to figure out how she fits in these dual worlds. I enjoyed this book, particularly the audiobook, which is read by the author.