Review: Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool

Clare Vanderpool. New York: Delacorte Press, 2013. 308 pp.
Rating: OMG (Oh My Greatness)

How do I begin to describe Navigating Early? Well, I guess this is as best a start as any. Years ago when I was preparing for the LSAT, I enrolled in a preparation course at Georgia State University. The course was taught by a math professor who reduced all words to numbers or letters in a math equation; in which he would then proceed to solve. I sat stupefied, inwardly shouting, I read words! WORDS!  My bibliophilic mind could not grasp this alpha to numeric metamorphosis. Needless to say, my brain never converged with the professor's tactics on the best approach to the Logic Games and Analytical Reasoning sections. 

Review: Black, White, Other: In Search of Nina Armstrong by Joan Steinau Lester

Joan Steinau Lester. Michigan: Zondervan, 2011. 222 pp.

Rating: Striking

Identity is a concept familiar to all, something people struggle with daily and not easily defined. We all ask, “Who am I?” Our gifts, talents, experiences, and ancestors make us who we are. For most, adolescence is the first attempt to piece together the puzzle of ourselves. Grappling with identity is frightening, but even more terrifying is being a biracial teen struggling with this issue when the world familiar to you crashes down.

In Black, White, Other, Nina Armstrong, a product of a white mother and black father, seeks to regain her identity once her parent’s divorce completely alters the life she has always known, forcing her to view her surroundings in a manner alien to her. Rejected by friends for refusing to pick a side and live in a world that is either black or white, Nina stands alone. Feeling a connection to a dead ancestor, Nina sets out to explore how her life is akin to her enslaved great-great-grandmother. We follow Nina Armstrong on her tumultuous journey as she attempts to answer the elusive question, “Who am I?”