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Sep 18, 2007

Anne rated it:

Caucasia is the story of Birdie Lee, the daughter of a white mother and a black father. Birdie has an older sister, Cole, who looks like how you would expect a child of her racial mix to look - black. Birdie, on the other hand, looks white. The contrast between the two causes constant confusion, and the never-ending assumption that Birdie must be adopted. The story is told from Birdie's perspective. She is quite young when the book begins and while she seems to understand racial politics to some More...

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May 13, 2008

T.J. rated it:

The first time I read this book was on a a rainy bus ride in the San Francisco bay area, and I surprised myself by finding myself crying, for it in many ways spoke of my own multiracial experience, albeit in highly fictionalized form.

Danzy Senna's first novel, Caucasia, is a story of traumatic dislocation, disorientation, and confused ethnic identity, set in 1970s and 80s Boston and intermittently in other places. It's the story of Birdie Lee, her older sister, and her parents--the More...

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Oct 21, 2007

fletch rated it:

From this book came the passage that inspired the amazing Seattle hip hop duo, Canary Sing:
"The mulatto in America functions as a canary in a coal mine. Canaries were used by coal miners to gauge how poisonous the air underground was. They would bring a canary in with them, and if it grew sick and died they knew the air was bad and eventually everyone would be poisoned by the fumes. Likewise, mulattos have historically been the gauge of how poisonous American race relations were. Th More...

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Mar 17, 2011

Vaughn rated it:

Growing up in a racially tense decade of the '70s is rough when you're bi-racial. The difficulty of the author growing up on the fence is captivating. With her writing style that is good to read with its flow and form of plotline, the book kept you reading until the end.
Not my favorite book I must honestly say, because of the strong resemblence between the tentativeness of the relationship between mother and daughter; it was very real and down to earth, which is okay, no problem with that, More...

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Jan 26, 2011

Mely rated it:

Birdie Lee and Cole Lee, daughters of a black academic and a white radical, are separated when their mother's involvement in radical politics gains FBI attention: Cole, who looks black, goes off with their father and his new (black) girlfriend to Brazil (their father says he is sick of America), and Birdie, who looks white, is sent off with their mother to pass as white and part-Jewish. The best part of the book covers the girls' childhood and education; subsequent parts, skimming over Birdie's More...

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Oct 21, 2011

Anjanique.a rated it:

This novel is a page turner and constantly kept me wondering what will happen next. The plot of the novel was also quite interesting because Senna writes about how a child with a black father and white mother, or vice-versa, would be treated in a society that is corrupt. In this time frame, blacks and whites were segregated and it was not likely that black and white men and women had sexual relations. Caucasia is on of my ultimate favorite books because the story is not based on the perspective More...

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Sep 15, 2011

Charlie rated it:

In a way, this book makes the reader understand why Mariah Carey said she felt confused as a child about who she was¹. The pain of being neither here nor there for the main character, Birdie, was well written and successfully gets the reader to empathize with her. Sadly, that’s about the only good thing in this book.

Caucasia is split into three sections. The first is about Birdie’s African-American roots and her relationship with her father. The second, about looking caucasian like her More...

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Jul 23, 2011

Brit rated it:

My teacher reccomended me this book and I decided to read it because it sound really good. Caucasia is about a family with a black husband, a white mother and two mixed sisters. The sisters and the family are split up after problems the mother and father caused with the government and it is about Birdie (the youngest siter who looks white) and her life journey while on the run. This book is during a time when America was still racist and really has an impact on the reader. I liked how it was More...

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Jan 26, 2011

Carolt rated it:

The book "Caucasia" is about two young girls who were separated from each other because of their parents marriage falling apart. Their father was an African American and their mother was a white. Birdie and Cole were the names of the two sisters, as Birdie followed her mother's skin color, being creamy white whist Cole was dark like her father, and was able to fit in the Afrocentric School. As the two sisters were quite close, it was very hard for them when Cole and her father moved to More...

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Feb 25, 2010

Molly added it

Caucasia is easily one of the best book I've ever read. Its about a family living in the 1970's and the troubles they go through; living in poverty, and their own families issues, also dealing with life in their generation. It talks a lot about the racism that went on and that time and how it really affected people, and threatened to break apart their family. I would easily recommend this book to anyone who likes a good well written book.
There are a lot of important issues in Caucasi More...

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Feb 25, 2010

Korey rated it:

Half white, half black- a family is torn apart by the color of their skin. After a fight with Sandy, Cole and Birdie's dad leaves their house to live on his own. Cole visits him regularly, but birdie doesn't because she cant bond with him that well because he is black and she looks white. Soon enough, he gets a new girlfriend and they decide to move to Brazil- without Birdie. meanwhile, Sandy is involved in some illegal activity- which forces her to up and move with Birdie. they change thei More...

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Oct 04, 2009

Emma rated it:

Danzy Senna's CAUCASIA houses a lot of serious issues that deal with racial identity in the United States. Though the book takes place during the late 70s/early 80s, the issues are still poignant today. The coming-of-age story centers around the pigment-ly white Birdie Lee, the daughter of a white mother and black father, and sister to a more visibly-black Cole. When the parents split up, Birdie and Cole are separated from each other, with no clues to each other whereabouts. The story follows th More...

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Aug 26, 2011

Kira rated it:

I really did love this book. Its a book that makes you wonder where the characters are and what they are up to even days after reading the last page.
The story could very well be a "coming-of-age story" but its so much richer than that.
The main character begins telling her story first as a small child. She explains what it was like for her to grow up biracial with an overly-political white mother entrenched in the black power movement and a deeply intelligent father who is More...

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Jul 16, 2011

Topher rated it:

I had wanted to read this book even before Danzy Senna visited my classroom to talk about Where Did You Sleep Last Night, but had to put it off until after the school year. I think my students would have loved the book if it was a little shorter. I'm not sure what part I would have edited down, but I felt bogged down for nearly the entire last third of the book. The protag is a consistent and informative voice (if a little too cute and wise beyond her years), but you become invested in her journ More...

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Feb 13, 2009

Zen rated it:

Hmm. This was readable and I enjoyed it and found it interesting, but wasn't much moved, for some reason. The dialogue and characters didn't feel entirely real to me, don't know why.

Does a similar thing to Jhumpa Lahiri in describing clothes in detail without the descriptions having much significance. Heyerian descriptions of clothes are one thing -- those are essential to the type of story she's telling -- but why do I need to know what sort of T-shirt these characters have got on? Se More...

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Apr 24, 2009

Rocio rated it:

The novel was a bit of a slow read, which may not do it for many people, but the undertones of the material is intense and very real. Cole and Birdie Lee are the daughters of Deck and Sandy. Deck is Black, Sandy is White. Cole is every inch the biracial beauty (brown skin, curly hair, green eyes and Birdie is the ever intriguing child who can "pass".

The story centers around the 60s-70s civil rights movement, which split up the girls (Cole lives with her father and Birdie wi More...

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Jun 24, 2010

Katie rated it:

This book "Caucasia" by Danzy Senna to me was a real eye opener. Even though this book is fiction, it really appeals to ones eye on the aspect of race. To read about how differently one sister is acted towards than another because of her appearance was pretty sad to think about. Her sister Cole, three years older than Birdie, the main character, was this light skinned, lighter haired women who got more attention due to theses characteristics. While reading this novel, I could feel my s More...

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Jun 13, 2009

Jamelah rated it:

It turns out that I am a sucker for books about biracial girls working out their identities. I absolutely loved this book and couldn't shut up about it back when I read it. I haven't touched it since because I don't want to remember it as being anything other than perfect. It's the story of a biracial family in 1970s Boston: black father, white mother, and two daughters, Cole and Birdie. The parents split and the father takes the dark-skinned daughter, Cole, and the mother takes the light-skinne More...

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Sep 21, 2010

tina added it

i liked this book so much, but i can't pinpoint the reasons why. it's a bit much-revolutionaries on the run in the 1970s. but i bought it, i really wanted to figure out why mom takes birdie & runs while dad takes cole. what kind of parents split the kids down the middle and disappear?
as someone who has never taken any classes where race relations were addressed in any capacity, i also liked both parents' rants. i particularly liked how dad becomes a sort of prisoner of his intellect towar More...

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Jan 09, 2010

Talya rated it:

Racial (or Ethnic-in my case) identity is something that has always intrigued me. Caucasia is the story of two biracial children that are separated when their parents split up. Birdie, who could pass for white goes with her white mother as they go into hiding from the government. Cole, who is a lot darker than Birdie, goes to Brazil with her black father, where race relations are supposed to be better than 1970's America. The story is from Birdie's point of view, which is an innocent child w More...

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Sep 18, 2009

Jean rated it:

Yes, it was, as the New York Times said, “haunting and deeply intelligent” but I can only rate it a high three. It felt both really close to true; and at times, somewhat fraudulent. At times I was reminded of The Glass Castle as the narrator careens around the country with her somewhat deranged mother. The overriding plot device is the bi-racial family in which the narrator lives, her appearance of whiteness versus her sister’s blackness, and racism in America in general. Some mocking of the More...

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Apr 17, 2009

Raven rated it:

I really enjoyed this book. Caucasia is the story of a young girl named Birdie who is growing up in 1970's Boston with her beloved older sister, Cole, and black father and white mom. Birdie struggles as she moves through her life because she is always being questioned on her race, as she appears to be white with light skin and straight hair. On the other hand her sister appears black with black kinky hair and facial features. Their black father, Deck, feels the need to teach Cole about her peopl More...

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Jun 16, 2009

Jessie rated it:

Although I enjoyed this book, it was not by any means what I would call powerful or overly thought provoking. The story is decent, yet ultimately falls flat. The best part of the book was this quote by Birdie's father after Birdie was saying how she pretended to be white for some time. "But baby, there's no such thing as passing. We're all just pretending. Race is a complete illusion, make-believe. It's a costume. We all wear one. You switched yours at some point. That's just the absurdity More...

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Aug 05, 2010

Esther rated it:

Danzy Senna is an incredible writer; her prose is very tight and desriptive involved with motion, either external or internal. The subject mattr is profound, and I heard her read a week or so ago at the California Pacific Modern Art Museum - they have a reader's series. she was a Stanford undergradute and a UCIrvine MFA student; their program is excellent and her craft is top notch and her subject race, so profoundly handled, all dimensions was fabulous. I also read her other book Where Did Y More...

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Mar 14, 2011

William rated it:

This book is breathtaking. Despite being a white man who group up in a relatively boring middle class suburb, I feel deeply connected to the protagonist, Birdie Lee. Her journey is as much about finding her identity as it is her lost family. Dealing with selfish adults, peers who need to immediately categorize everyone they meet to satisfy their particular world view, and a world that can't accept a child who is both white and black. As a teacher, I am assigning this book along with Huck Fin More...

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Mar 15, 2011

Rashida rated it:

Definitely one of my favorite post civil rights era novels to address the issue of race in America, specifically biraciality. Danzy Senna is a beautiful story teller, with such a way with words that she reels you in from the beginning as she paints the picture with her melodic style of writing . I'm actually surprised that this book isn't rated higher, but it is definitely a divisive subject matter and I'd say an even more controversial plot, so it can hit home for many, and not resonate at al More...

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Dec 15, 2008

Julie rated it:

One of my favorite books of all time--tied for second place with She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb. This convincing, contemporary "coming of age" story about a girl who is technically both "black" and "white" will draw you in and prompt you to think critically about the idea of "race." Narrated from the perspective of a strong girl who doesn't play the victim of race wars but rather wishes she could, I left this novel with contentment rather than outrage for More...

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Sep 02, 2009

Kayla rated it:

This book was chosen by my college for all first-years to read the summer before we started. I loved it. The author came to campus and she signed my book. During the lecture, she said she was inspired to write this book based on her childhood experiences growing up in blue-blood Boston, though the book hardly takes place in Boston except for the very beginning. It's a wonderful story about two sisters trying to hold on to their bond despite increasing differences between the two(epecially th More...

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Aug 31, 2009

Sorayya rated it:

Caucasia is the coming of age story of Birdee Lee who is half white and half black in the early seventies. Birdee Lee looks more white than black, and her sister, Cole, looks more black than white. The sisters are separated when their mother, who is white, leaves Boston with Birdee Lee and the father, who is black, leaves for Brazil with Cole and his girlfriend, Carmen. Over the years, Birdee Lee struggles with her race, why her mother is on the run, and why her father and sister do not con More...

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Mar 07, 2009

Carol rated it:

Caucasia, by Danzy Senna, examines what it means to be black. The story is about an interracial family and takes place in the early 70's to 80's. It is written in the view point of a young girl that appears to be white, while her sister appears to be black. The parents are young radicals that eventually have to split up because the mother needs to go underground to hide from her revolutionary past. The mother takes the white child, Birdie, and the father takes Cole the black child. The stor More...

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