From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun

Great reading for my 10 year old. It applied the topic of gender and prejudices, which they talked about in school. My son enjoyed the book and so did I. It is also a rather fast read, which helps kids who are not very avid readers and might be intimidated by bigger books.

It tells a story from a raw perspective that is rarely seen in literature. I loved the poetry in the book. The novel got me thinking and rethinking about how I view the world.

After reading many of Jacqueline Woodson's short stories from various black LGBT anthologies, I finally got a chance to read one of her heartfelt, moving novellas in 'From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun.' Melanin Sun is a 14-year-old, dark skinned, quiet guy whose only family is his mother E.C. and longs to ask out his crush Angie out. While dealing with some obstacles that he faces in his young life, he writes his thoughts and challenges down in his notebooks to express what he normally wouldn't say out aloud (not even to his close mother). In the meantime, his mother makes a revelation to him that throws him for a loop when his mother reveals she's in love with a white woman by the name of Kristin. This truly tests the bond between mother and son through the majority of the story as he tries to either accept his mother's new found sexual identity along with racial issues that he expresses through some insistence in the book.As a twenty-something, I actually liked this story. While it is a simple, easy read, I do feel a lot of people who truly take a chance reading can take something out of it no matter how young or old they maybe. Melanin Sun is written in a very touching and realistic that some kids his age could definitely relate to. I also like how Woodson writes a story centering around a parent's sexuality that could prove being an emotional shift between parent and child. I'd say if you're an open-minded parent(s) with kid(s) read this together as a family it's very short and a nice heartwarming read.

Awesome book

This is a pretty short book that I was required to read in my college literature class. It tells the story of a young, very poor African-American child of a single mother, and how their relationship changes when Melanin Sun finds out his mother is gay, and also is with a rich white woman. It was a very well-written book that really put you in Melanin Sun's place and made you feel for him. However, it has a lot of different challenges all thrown at Melanin Sun and it makes it a little overwhelming. This is an awesome book to read if you want to learn about a different type of life than you live; it really gives you a wonderful perspective from a different lens than you're used to. It was also a pretty easy read. I enjoyed it much more than most of my other literature class books for this reason - it was pretty easy to understand and straight-forward.

This book is amazing. My friends are reading this book and I recommend it to my friendsFive star book

Love anything by Jacqueline Woodson!

My students enjoyed this book

Bought this as a gift to my friend. But this has been a fave of mine.

A good book that shows the prejudice LGBT individuals and their friends and family have to face. But love is expressed in many different ways, a lesson Mel learns in this novel.