Status Updates From Blended

Reading for class

It leaves the reader to do so much of that wondering on their own. I think it is confusing/unfair to leave early middle grade readers with these moments and questions without a character alongside them to help process it all. I struggled with other aspects of the story, like the narrative voice feeling older, but ultimately I feel like this book did a lot without doing enough. I give it a very generous 3🌟.

However, I am a bi-racial person who doesn’t pass as black or white, so I am not be able to speak towards the experience of being white or black passing and the effect this distinction has on one’s ability to identify/choose. There are also many traumatic racial experiences and comments expressed in this book that are difficult to read, but weren’t processed on the page well.

For instance, the main character identifies as black instead of mixed race, and that sentiment is expressed in one solitary conversation. I worry that this single scene perpetuated the narrative that bi-racial/multi-racial children must choose to be one race instead of embracing all they are.

I was very frustrated and a little disappointed by this book. I expected it to be about blended family dynamics and the bi-racial experience. It was, but I wanted the author to explore these topics more deeply. I struggled with some of the narratives she created but didn’t develop/expand on.