A review by jackelz
Color Me in by Natasha Díaz

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Natasha Díaz has a Jewish father and a Liberian and Brazilian mom, and this book is a fictionalization of her childhood. Navaeh is a Black (Jamaican and Liberian) Jewish teenager whose father forces her to have a belated bat mitzvah at age 16. Navaeh’s parents are in the midst of a divorce, and the bat mitzvah is her father’s way of having her stay connected to his family. Meanwhile, Navaeh is struggling to figure out her identity, her relationship to her blackness, her privilege, a blossoming relationship, and her family. 
 
There are a lot of side characters in this book, and they all had their own story, but each influenced Navaeh in some way. 
 
Navaeh’s best friend Stevie was probably my favorite character. I loved their platonic love. He was also grappling with his own identity and he finally called Navaeh out for being so selfish. Navaeh had to check her privilege many times, and was often an unlikable character, but it felt 100% honest. 
 
I love the addition of Navaeh’s poetry and her mother’s journal entries. The journal entries really make us understand her mother better, and they really made me dislike Navaeh’s father even more. Her parents weren’t giving her the room to explore her identities on her own, but she found her way.
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