Into White
by Randi Pink
When you tear through Randi Pink’s Into White, you’ll find it enormously hard to believe it’s her first novel. Her voice is so strong and defined, even while writing first-person through a character who hasn’t found herself yet, it feels like she’s written over a dozen novels. This is a fantastic, thoughtful, surprising, funny, sensitive novel everyone can benefit from reading.
The protagonist is an African-American teenaged girl in the Deep South. It’s no surprise that she had a hard time in her mostly white high school, but when the first chapter chronicles her experiences, even the hardest heart will soften. This is a character to be loved and rooted for. When she ends her chapter in a prayer to Jesus that she wake up the next day “anything but black,” it’s unfortunately understandable.
Jesus grants her wish, and the protagonist is magically transformed into a blonde, blue-eyed Caucasian so she can experience different treatments at school and within her town. With a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor thrown in, this book has just as much comedy as drama. There are some truly sad moments, some necessary lessons to learn, and some surprising realizations that affect both the characters and the readers. Seriously, go out and read this book. If you think it’s too silly, it’s not. If you don’t want to read a book where the main character talks to Jesus on a regular basis, this is not a religious pamphlet. If you worry it might be racist, it’s not. It’s near perfection, so what are you waiting for?
The protagonist is an African-American teenaged girl in the Deep South. It’s no surprise that she had a hard time in her mostly white high school, but when the first chapter chronicles her experiences, even the hardest heart will soften. This is a character to be loved and rooted for. When she ends her chapter in a prayer to Jesus that she wake up the next day “anything but black,” it’s unfortunately understandable.
Jesus grants her wish, and the protagonist is magically transformed into a blonde, blue-eyed Caucasian so she can experience different treatments at school and within her town. With a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor thrown in, this book has just as much comedy as drama. There are some truly sad moments, some necessary lessons to learn, and some surprising realizations that affect both the characters and the readers. Seriously, go out and read this book. If you think it’s too silly, it’s not. If you don’t want to read a book where the main character talks to Jesus on a regular basis, this is not a religious pamphlet. If you worry it might be racist, it’s not. It’s near perfection, so what are you waiting for?