"Before I ever saw myself, I saw my sister. When I was still too small for mirrors, I saw her as the reflection that proved my own existence.”
And so begins the story of Caucasia written by Danzy Senna, and I have to say that the opening introduction did pull me in enough to grasp my attention. I think that it was the situation that the protagonist, Birdie Lee, was caught in that interested me the most, growing up in a biracial family. Birdie’s mother Sandy, who was white, married a black professor named Deck. This kind of marriage arrangement was greatly looked down upon back in the book’s setting of the 1970s, and it also created a lot of stress on the family’s affairs.
However, it was their kids, Birdie and her sister Cole, that provided a very fascinating dilemma for us readers. Because their parents were white and black, this gave the two sisters different skin tones. Birdie, who was more predominantly white, contrasted greatly with Cole, who was darker like her father. I really enjoyed this creative set up by the author because it was neat to see how other characters in the book would react to the sisters.
One part that really pulled me in was when the two girls had their first day at their new school, which focused on Black Power. Cole, who managed to fit in perfectly due to her skin tone, greatly differed Birdie’s situation, who was having her hair threatened to be cut off in a bathroom by two bullies.
I will say though that at times, the book could seem to slow down, but luckily creepers like Redbone and Hans, the German doll collector, would manage to draw me in with their oddities. I am slightly afraid though that Nicholas will turn out to be a major, drugged-out creeper and drag Birdie into some dangerous trouble… In the end, I’m excited to see how the story will progress; I especially want to figure out what the mom did that pushed her into her paranoid frenzy! O.o
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3 comments:
hey hey heyyyyy
I totally agree, Nick seems like he has the potential to be a drugged out creeper! I really want to know what Sandy did too!
I thought the setup of the book was very creative, you would never think that two children from the same parents would look so different and that people would focus solely on that and not how they are similiar in deeper ways.
I agree, some of the people are pretty suspicious--that toy store with the doll hospital freaked me out. It seems like there could be some sort of (metaphorical) meaning in that scene, what with the harmed dolls waiting to be fixed up so they can leave the place they've been confined in and be part of the "real world" again (at least, as much a part of that as dolls can be). Maybe it reflects Birdie and her mother in a way, stuck in a bad condition and trying to hide themselves where no one will find them.
hey kyle....i wish you were still in my class.
Anyways, I loved the intro to the book. It pulled me in right away. I do have to admit that although this story has great parts, it still dwells and fiddles with slow and boring aspects.
Overall, I love how when it gets boring, a creeper always shows up.
The one scene that I can picture vividly was when Birdie was at school and Redbone came and took a picture of her and creeped on her.
SKETCH
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