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soulkissed2003's review against another edition
3.0
Mark Whitaker, a prominent journalist who has held prominent positions with CNN, NBC, and Newsweek, shares his memoirs with us. His is an emotional story, one of growing up as a biracial child trying to understand his identity. As an adult, he used his own personal knowledge and did additional research, to gain a better understanding of his family history and therefore, himself.
His mother was a young white college teacher. His father was her black student. The two eventually fell in love and began a relationship, and later married. Yet happiness was not to be. Mark and a brother, Paul, came along before things fell apart and the parents split. Mark recounts being raised by his single mother within the academic community, but also shares fond memories of his father's family, who ran a funeral home for years.
Mr. Whitaker ultimately comes to the conclusion, as we all must, that no matter the past that shaped us, that in the end it is the individual that must decide who he or she truly is.
The book was published in October, 2011 from Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-2754-1. It includes a selection of black and white photos of the author and his family. Suggested retail price is $25.99 in the US, or $29.99 in Canada.
His mother was a young white college teacher. His father was her black student. The two eventually fell in love and began a relationship, and later married. Yet happiness was not to be. Mark and a brother, Paul, came along before things fell apart and the parents split. Mark recounts being raised by his single mother within the academic community, but also shares fond memories of his father's family, who ran a funeral home for years.
Mr. Whitaker ultimately comes to the conclusion, as we all must, that no matter the past that shaped us, that in the end it is the individual that must decide who he or she truly is.
The book was published in October, 2011 from Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-2754-1. It includes a selection of black and white photos of the author and his family. Suggested retail price is $25.99 in the US, or $29.99 in Canada.
liloud0626's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. Mark Whitaker is the son of a white French mother and a black American father, both of whom are scholars at Swarthmore as the story begins. Whitaker doesn't hold back. He lets both of his parents have it when they deserve it, but is also respectful of their achievements and their stories. He is a great writer (and a trained journalist who used to be the editor of Newsweek and now runs the DC bureau of NBC) and tells a wonderful story. I believe that he and I are close to the same age, and through this book I learned a lot about what was going on in our country and in the world while I was busy playing Barbies.
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