Eleven-year-old Isabellaโs blended family is more divided than ever in this โtimely but genuineโ (Publishers Weekly) story about divorce and racial identity from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper.Eleven-year-old Isabellaโs parents are divorced, so she has to switch lives every week: One week sheโs Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and ...Full description
Eleven-year-old Isabellaโs blended family is more divided than ever in this โtimely but genuineโ (Publishers Weekly) story about divorce and racial identity from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper.Eleven-year-old Isabellaโs parents are divorced, so she has to switch lives every week: One week sheโs Isabella with her dad, his girlfriend Anastasia, and her son Darren living in a fancy house where they are one of the only black families in the neighborhood. The next week sheโs Izzy with her mom and her boyfriend John-Mark in a small, not-so-fancy house that she loves.Because of this, Isabella has always felt pulled between two worlds. And now that her parents are divorced, it seems their fights are even worse, and theyโre always about HER. Isabella feels completely stuck in the middle, split and divided between them more than ever. And she is beginning to realize that being split between Mom and Dad involves more than switching houses, switching nicknames, switching backpacks: itโs also about switching identities. Her dad is black, her mom is white, and strangers are always commenting: โYouโre so exotic!โ โYou look so unusual.โ โBut what are you really?โ She knows what theyโre really saying: โYou donโt look like your parents.โ โYouโre different.โ โWhat race are you really?โ And when her parents, who both get engaged at the same time, get in their biggest fight ever, Isabella doesnโt just feel divided, she feels ripped in two. What does it mean to be half white or half black? To belong to half mom and half dad? And if youโre only seen as half of this and half of that, how can you ever feel whole?It seems like nothing can bring Isabellaโs family together againโuntil the worst thing happens. Isabella and Darren are stopped by the police. A cell phone is mistaken for a gun. And shots are fired.