Book Review: From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson

Genre: 
Realistic Fiction


Interest Level:
Ages 12 and up

Reading Level:
Lexile 690. Grades 6 and up


Book Theme:
LGBT parents, family issues



Books with Similar Themes: 
Holly's Secret by Nancy Garden, Box Girl by Sarah Withrow

Bibliographic Information: 
Woodson, J. (1995). From the notebooks of Melanin Sun. New York: Blue Sky Press.
        
Plot:  

Thirteen-year-old Melanin Sun is growing up in the city and being raised by his single mother, to who he is very close. Melanin has a few close friends and a crush on a girl named Angie. He also like to write in his notebooks. Life seems to be going pretty easy for Melanin until one day his mother tells him that she had fallen in love with a woman. Melanin is beyond upset and starts to worry that his friends will bully him, ostracize him, or that he could be gay himself! He does everything he can to avoid his mother and wants nothing to do with her ever again, but this isn't easy living in the same apartment. To make matters worse, his mother wants him to make friends with her girlfriend! This is all too much for Melanin, who starts to fear that his life will never be the same again! Can he ever mend his relationship with his mother?

Review:  
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun touches on some tough issues that tweens deal with today. Melanin is a young boy who has grown up being afraid of gay people, and suddenly there is a gay person in his life, his mother! Many tweens discover that their parents are gay for the first time and feel the same shock, horror, anger, and fear that Melanin feels. Sometimes they have to adapt to a parent's new boyfriend or girlfriend as well.Throughout the book Melanin struggles to find independence from his mother while also missing her terribly. He also starts to discover the opposite sex and has a crush on a girl he fears will reject him when she knows the truth, a fear many tweens in his situation share. The Notebooks of Melanin Sun is a great book for any tween who learns his or her parent is gay for the first time and is having a difficult time coping, or for a friend of such a tween who wants to understand what their friend is experiencing.

Notable Tweens:

Melanin- The main character of the story, which is told in his voice. Melanin is a young boy who loves to write in his notebook, even though his friends make fun of him for it. He loves his mother fiercely despite his negative reaction to her being a lesbian.

Sean and Raphael- Melanin's two best friends, they often play basketball together and spend lots of time hanging out together during the summer. Sean is not accepting of Melanin's mother. When Sean discovers the truth about Melanin's mother he calls her homophobic slurs and the two get into a fist fight, which ends their friendship. Raphael accepts Melanin's mother and the two remain friends.