Black, White, Other

In Search of Nina Armstrong

By: Joan Steinau Lester

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Joan Steinau Lester’s newest book looks that the emotional and social experience of Nina, a teen girl living in LA who feels caught between two worlds - the “white” world of her mother and the “black” world of her father. This nowhere land of race becomes harder to navigate when the support system her parents offered is shattered by their divorce.

Now with racial tensions rising in her school and community, her white friends seeing her as too ghetto and her black friends labeling her too white, and her father pressuring her to take up her black heritage, Nina feels lost and abandoned. Even Nina’s faith seems to fail her - how can she cling to God and the songs of the church when God’s image in her seems twisted?

When Nina discovers a book her father is writing about Sarah, her great-great grandmother who escaped from slavery on the Underground Railroad, Nina finds someone who can understand her feelings of being trapped in an upside-down world. But will those stories be enough to guide Nina through the pressures she now faces?

©2011 Joan Steinau Lester (P)2011 Zondervan

Critic reviews

"The tenderness and truth of the book moved my heart. As well as the enormous love." (Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple)

A relevant story for our times

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely! this is a warm and compelling story of life lived as a Bi-Racial teen in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 21st century. One would think the progressive liberal ideas of Northern California would produce a very different environment for a bi-racial teen; yet the struggle for identity is just as difficult as if the time was the 1950's and the setting was the old south.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Black, White, Other?

The author tells two stories at once; the story of Neena and her journey with the manuscript her father has written about his enslaved ancestor, this intertwining of stories was a wonderful twist.

Which scene was your favorite?

The telling of the story of what has been known in African-American history as "Box Boy Brown"

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Black White Other...when the past can heal the future!

Any additional comments?

Black White Other is a great read for anyone adult or youth who wants to better understand the difficulties of living as a mixed race person in the united states; told from the point of view of a young girl growing into adulthood. A little corny at times but the messages are well articulated.

Very YA

The narrator in this recording was wonderful. The one saving grace for me truly. The story was interesting but the main character frustrated me as a very stereotypical portrayed teenager that takes very predictable actions. The characters all felt somewhat flat and I struggled to finish. I really wish this topic could have been expressed more eloquently with a more entertaining read.

Required Reading

The author gives and excellent description of the issues biracial children, and children in general, deal with in todays environment. Both positive and negative. At the same time she gives a well researched history of the past and insight of what slaves experienced. Lester's "Novel within a Novel" is very engaging and pulls together the present and the past.

I am buying the hard copy for my book shelve and giving all of my Grandchildren a copy. This book should be require reading in schools for every girl and boy, biracial or not. It would open up some positive discussions on the subject. Just about everyone in the U.S. is biracial but do not appear to be. I have three sons who are biracial. Caucasian, African American, Native American. They do not look biracial. I just had my "Genetic Profiling" done and discovered I am also biracial. By a good margin. Caucasion & African American. I had no idea.

The narration by Balmi Turpin is excellent and makes the story come to life.

I am looking forward to reading more novels from this author and books narrated by Turpin.

Identify

If you're of a enslaved history you closely identify with this stories character and possibly the events easily.