Praise for intolerance

Recently I read a wonderful book for teenagers and young adults. As a teacher currently enrolled in a master’s program focusing on literacy, I read a lot of books for children and young adults, but this one stuck out to me as particularly wonderful.

The book is From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun by Jacqueline Woodson. The main character, Melanin Sun (named for his beautiful dark skin), is an only child being raised by his single mother in Brooklyn, NY. He loves and respects his mom, he has good friends, he enjoys writing, and he is just beginning to effectively flirt with girls. But then his mom tells him that she is in love with a woman, and a white woman at that, and Melanin’s happy world begins to unravel.

Because of his mom’s announcement, Melanin begins to question everything about his mom, and he can’t understand why she can’t just love a man, since she’s brought male dates home to meet him before.  Also, he’s embarrassed, and wants to make sure his friends never find out (together before his mom tells him, phrases like, “That’s so gay,” are thrown around without a second thought among them), and he is worried that his crush will find out and have no interest in him anymore. Melanin also questions his own sexuality. “What if I am like her?” he asks at several points.

I really enjoyed this book for two main reasons. First, it’s a perspective that we don’t often hear: that of a child with a parent who comes out to them. Second, the reactions are so real, so life-like, and not sugar-coated. Half the book is spent on Melanin basically giving his mother the silent treatment or yelling at her, while refusing to even give her a chance to explain things to him. Even the ending is not sugar-coated. While we do see Melanin giving his mom’s girlfriend a chance by having a real conversation with her, immediately afterwards when his mother and her girlfriend touch, he turns away, uncomfortable with the display of affection.

There are enough books out there for young people that teach them how to get along with and accept people who are different than them. What about the books that give them a preview of the intolerance they will encounter in the world? Where are the books that will help them understand the emotions of people who are not tolerant of homosexuality? From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun is a start, and I only hope there are, or will be, more.