“We all make assumptions about each other. It doesn’t matter if you’re family or a
stranger on the subway; we do it everywhere, even here, in our safe spaces, where we’re
supposed to love each other up and down.”

With straight brown hair and pale skin, no one realizes 16 year old Nevaeh is half black.
She’s not popular at her white NY prep school and with her black fam, she sticks out like a sore
thumb. So where does she fit in? When her dad (white, Jewish, and filthy rich) is caught
cheating on her mom, Nevaeh moves in with her family in the city with her grandpa, aunt, and
two very opinionated teen twin cousins - causing Nevaeh to confront her biracial heritage - and
her privilege - for the first time.

Color Me In is a truly phenomenal debut, following a richly complex character who
struggles to figure out who she is. An ode to the multitudes girls of color contain within themselves, I was deeply impressed by how many themes operated inside Color Me In - impressed at Diaz's ability to balance those themes and to fully explore each. Some of my favorite elements were:
1. Loving a parent with deteriorating mental health
2. Balancing multiple ethnic and religious identities
3. Coming of age
4. First love
5. Bullying
The writing was lyrical, but easily digestible with hilarious dialogue which alleviated tension brought in by heavier discussion topics. I enjoyed moments where Nevaeh has to confront her privilege and
how to use it so much. She is a regular kid - she makes mistakes, but it was elating to watch her learn from them.


Diaz gives us a refreshingly real story about growing up, especially in a New York
setting. I found myself relating so much to Nevaeh as someone who is both biracial and a New
Yorker. It pulled at my heart to watch her learn how to love, how to be a good friend, how to
be who she is, and to learn about how the world sees her. For "Color Me In" I only have two points of criticism:

1. Didn’t like the way fat characters were described
2. All of the female antagonistic characters embodied either the "airhead" or the “she devil” stereotype . The attitude that female villains should be either hyper sexual or unintelligent is outdated and should be retired from our literature.

Other than those things, I dig this story and will be 1. Buying it and 2. Reading it again and
again.
4.5/5 stars

FIRST OFF. WHERE IS THE BUZZ? WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS BOOK? I'm disappointed in the people, but I suppose there's still time to create a uproar before late august.

This authors writing. Perfection. I absolutely loved it. There isn't a huge storyline but the challenges the heroine must face and overcome I just adored. This book hits racism, poverty, sexual assault, discrimination etc. I just loved it. I loved the topics, I loved all the characters, I loved all the storylines of each individual character, I loved the fact that they didn't always rely on the heroine to solve everyones individual problems. The whole thing just *chefs kiss* complete and utter perfection.

Color Me In is a semi autobiographical coming of age story that follows Nevaeh Levitz, a biracial New Yorker teen. Nevaeh grew up in the suburbs, but after her parents split, she moves in with her mother's family Harlem. Here she begins to learn about the identity and history on her mother's side that she hadn't been aware of before.

I like how this book dealt with the slight discomfort Nevaeh had in both of her identities of being Jewish and black. One side of her family judges her because she is affluent and white passing and the other wants her to immerse herself in the Jewish faith. Both have good intentions, but lack of proper communication drives Nevaeh to a crossroads. She feels disconnected from them both and I enjoyed that through the narrative of this book, she started to become more comfortable in just living somewhere in the middle. Nevaeh makes mistakes and she is a little bit selfish, but the moment she learns she doesn't have to conform to anyone's standards of who she should be, is where the real turning point begins.

This book also takes a look into the past through Nevaeh's mother's journal entries. I enjoyed these sections because it gave insight into the pain and trauma her mother experienced and how it became the basis for
the hurt Nevaeh feels.

Color Me In follows the life of Nevaeh Levitz, a 15 year old biracial poet who is dealing with the divorce of her Jamaican Baptist mother and Jewish father. Throughout the book Nevaeh finds herself in many situations that cause her to question her ethnicity, her socio-economic status, her place in a family structure that she did not experience a lot growing up and her religion. She deals with having to step up to the plate and acknowledge her societal and economical privileges and respond to them in situations where others may be mistreated because of the lack thereof. Other parts of the book deal with regular teenage events: romantic relationships and jealousy from others, the expectation of fulfillment and loyalty within friendships, stepping outside of your comfort zone to pursue a dream and bulling. The story was written in such a beautiful way that it is impossible to not be able to connect with Nevaeh in some fashion. I loved this book and the poetry written by Nevaeh. I would definitely check out any future books following the story. Such a great read and highly recommended!

Thanks goes to Netgalley and Random House Children's for this ARC copy in exchange for my review!

"Color Me In" has a young adult character that I think some readers will definitely enjoy. We follow 15 year old Nevaeh Levitz who is dealing with the fall out of her parents separation. She and her mother are living with her mother's relatives in Harlem while her mother tries to move forward. Nevaeh feels trapped between the world she came from (rich and affluent) and where she starts to feel more comfortable with her black relatives in Harlem and starts putting together the pieces of her mother's history. Diaz gets into colorism, being biracial, racism, Judaism, and first love. I think she does a great job juggling all of this, though at times parts of Nevaeh's journey feels a little forced.

Nevaeh feels like a person split in two. Though she's biracial (Jewish and African America) she is still seen as a white girl living with her relatives in Harlem. Her mother and father have separated with Nevaeh feeling lost due to her father being gone for two months while her mother sinks further into depression. Nevaeh is finally getting to know her aunt, uncle, and three cousins. We slowly find out that Nevaeh's father kept her mother from seeing her relatives and there definitely seems to be subtle and not subtle signs of racism coming from him. And we get to see how Nevaeh finds out more about where she came from (on her mother's side) and how she's not just one thing.

The secondary characters were developed well though I thought that Nevaeh's father was just a hot mess. I wish that Diaz had delved more into the father's actions because it was heavily implied he looked down upon his wife's blackness, but no one came right out and called his behavior racist. You can see why Nevaeh's mother is depressed and realizing how she gave up her sense of self (a black woman who was a child of immigrants) to marry a rich man who wanted her to deny that part of herself in order to fit in.

We also have Diaz including a Rabbi (Rabbi Sarah) who starts to teach Nevaeh more about Judaism and prepares her for her Bat Mitzvah. I did find Rabbi Sarah to be a little unorthodox though with how she talks to Nevaeh. I just once again don't know how realistic that would be with an adult and a 15 year old.

I thought that Diaz's relationship with her aunt was quite realistic and I felt pangs for Nevaeh trying to fit in with her cousins and the constant rejection from one of them.

I thought the writing was sharp in places, but honestly the way that Nevaeh and her cousins speak though sounded way too old. Not that all teens run around speaking broken grammar, it just sounded like they were making too many speeches. For example, when Nevaeh goes back to her school and addresses the principal and other adults. I just felt like it was too try hard in that moment. Also incorporating some of Nevaeh's writing/poetry wrecked the flow for me at times. I also thought including Nevaeh's mother's diary tripped things up a bit too.

The setting of Harlem came alive based on how Nevaeh sees it, places, and people. Nevaeh's father's home seems separate from her and every time she goes back there it gets a little worse.

The ending leaves things slightly unfinished for Nevaeh and her father, but definitely in a more solid place with her mother, aunt, grandfather, and cousins.

As a librarian I can recognize that this is a book that will probably appeal to many teen readers. I have to say that it wasn't my favorite. It took me quite a while to get through it. As a darker skinned African American it was hard to read. Race is already super complicated and typically (there's even a movie about it called Dark Girls) darker skinned African Americans, particularly females, are viewed so negatively by the world. I can see people who come into this book like I do, being turned off to it. Again, that's not to say it's not a good book that many will enjoy, I can just see the other side of it as well.

This book is so important. I can't wait for everyone to read it. It has such amazing writing and the characters were fantastic.

This book knocked me off my feet. When I was least expecting it, it punched me in the heart, and I was crying through a whole bat mitzvah.

Nevaeh Levitz is struggling to find where she fits in her family when her dad is white and Jewish and her mom and the people she knows best are Black and go to church. She’s never felt like she quite belongs in either world, but as the story goes on and she grows more sure of herself, it becomes clear she can carve out a spot that’s uniquely her own. She doesn’t have to be one thing or the other.

Color Me In is not just an incredible story, it’ll also teach you about privilege, the challenges of growing up, and how to use your voice to help those closest to you. Let’s get to the review!

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Who is Nevaeh Levitz?
Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom’s family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time.

Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but one of her cousins can’t stand that Nevaeh, who inadvertently passes as white, is too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices they face on a daily basis as African Americans. In the midst of attempting to blend their families, Nevaeh’s dad decides that she should have a belated bat mitzvah instead of a sweet sixteen, which guarantees social humiliation at her posh private school. Even with the push and pull of her two cultures, Nevaeh does what she’s always done when life gets complicated: she stays silent.

It’s only when Nevaeh stumbles upon a secret from her mom’s past, finds herself falling in love, and sees firsthand the prejudice her family faces that she begins to realize she has a voice. And she has choices. Will she continue to let circumstances dictate her path? Or will she find power in herself and decide once and for all who and where she is meant to be?

Nevaeh is doing her best to figure out her life after a pretty big upheaval. She recently moved in with her mom’s sister’s family after her parents split up and with her mother deeply upset and depressed, Nevaeh has to deal with everything that comes with her new life all by herself.

During this time, Nevaeh makes her way up to the attic and finds her mother’s old journal. As she reads through it, she begins to find out more about her mom’s past as well as one of the reasons why her parent’s marriage may have failed.

I LOVE stories with journal entries from the past, especially when they’re from the main character’s parent. It’s a great way to learn with a character. They’re learning new facts about someone they’re close to just as the reader is.

But that is only a small portion of the book. Nevaeh also has to deal with her father. He is dating his secretary (she is awwwwful) and has decided that he wants Nevaeh to have a bat mitvah. Nevaeh is horrified but ultimately agrees, if only to get her cheating father off her back.

That brings in Rabbi Sarah who is meant to teach Nevaeh Hebrew and everything she needs to know to ensure her bat mitvah goes smoothly. Little does she know, Rabbi Sarah will teach her much more than what’s in the Torah. Besides Nevaeh, Rabbi Sarah might be my favorite character. It’s clear she’s been through some shit and Nevaeh (and I) appreciates that. She’s not easy to get close to, but for Nevaeh, she tries. She is so damn supportive…I want a Rabbi Sarah.

There is also Nevaeh’s life at school with her best friend, Stevie (who is a badass dancer), and her time with her cousins at home and at church. While Nevaeh’s cousins accept her as their family, her cousin, Jordan repeatedly reminds her that she doesn’t live the same life or experience it in the same way as they do.

Nevaeh can pass for white, so her experiences in society (especially around cops) is much different than it is for all the Black people in her family. It’s through Jordan and a horrifying experience at school (I think I stopped breathing during this scene), that Nevaeh realizes just how much privilege she has and how she can use it to help the people she loves most.

And speaking of people she loves…Nevaeh falls for a Dominican boy named Jesus. OMG their relationship is so freaking cute. There are no words. Compared to what we read about Nevaeh’s mother’s past experiences with men, Nevaeh’s relationship with Jesus is the exact opposite. It’s supportive and loving and gets even better once Nevaeh begins to come into her own.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about Nevaeh’s poetry. She’s a brilliant writer and her poems are sprinkled throughout the story at integral moments. Her poetry is another way the reader gets to see what Nevaeh’s feeling and how she changes throughout the story. The topics and emotions in her poems change as she comes to better understand herself and her world.

Color Me In blew me away in so many ways. Nevaeh and I have a few things in common. We are both half Jewish and have less-than-ideal fathers. The sections when she discovers her dad isn’t the person she thinks he is slapped me in the face. I have been in that moment and Nevaeh’s anger is all too real.

And don’t even get me started with the bat mitzvah scene. I cried through the whole thing. It’s about growing up and making amends and being who you are, not necessarily what people tell you to be. It killed me and brought me back to life.

Another moment that really stuck with me is when Nevaeh finally realizes her privilege and how much power comes with being white-passing.

I’m white and being white comes with a lot of privilege. Before reading this story, I thought I knew how to use some of that privilege to help make the world a less shitty place. But based on the way Jordan explains it to Nevaeh, I didn’t “get it” as much as I thought I did. There’s one scene where Jordan lets out all her feelings about living in a world that’s set against her and it was very eye-opening.

I hope a ton of white readers check out this book and learn how to use their privilege for good. Or at the very least, understand a little better what Black people go through every day.

Color Me In by Natasha Diaz is thought-provoking, fun, sad, and so well-written I could cry (and did). I’m blown away by Natasha Diaz and I can’t wait to read her next books. I am giving Color Me In 5 out of 5 stars. Please get this book. You won’t be disappointed. (the crying is worth it.)

Color Me In comes out August 20, 2019.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Color Me In by Natasha Diaz follows Neveah Levitz as she contends with her parents' sudden breakup and comes to terms with her biracial identity. Since this is semi-autobiographical, I feel bad saying that I really struggled with this book. All of the ideas were there, but nothing felt wholly developed.

I think Neveah's arc in general, finding her voice, finding out when her voice isn't the most important or needed in the room, speaking up when she should be heard, etc, are all really important lessons that a 16-year-old girl would face. However, there were some scenes and some dialogue that were just so on the nose. They felt very cliche. As did several characters. The gold-digging, wanna-be Real Housewife woman her father is dating, her Jewish Bubby, Abby, the stereotypical high-school mean girl. Obviously, people like this exist, but probably not all in the same place at the same time. Everything seemed to move too quickly. Neveah meets Jesus and BAM they're in a relationship. Neveah meets Rabbi Sarah and now they have to spend a lot of time together and BAM they care about each other. There wasn't enough time to develop all the storylines to their satisfying conclusion. It felt like any possible YA cliche can and did happen to Neveah while she was at school, and then it all got wrapped up in an easy bow at the end.

Now, I'm a white woman in my late 20s. Obviously this book isn't written for me. Maybe the cliches and quick pace will help teens grasp the concepts? I don't know. It seems that a lot of people really like this book, so I could be an outlier.

Neveah is caught between two worlds when her parents suddenly and dramatically split up the Summer before her Sophomore year. Her mother is a ghost of herself and her father would rather pretend that everything will just be fine if they all decide to just move on. The home she’s grown up in seems cold without her mother and downright hostile once her father’s girlfriend begins spending more time there. But in the small room she shares with her mother in rapidly gentrifying Harlem doesn’t feel that much better, given how ire she seems to draw from her cousin, Jordan, whom she has to share the space with. It seems like she doesn’t really belong anywhere, too black for her tony private school and too Jewish for Harlem, but she can’t escape either side and she’ll have to do the work to understand just how much of her there is to understand and present to the world.

I really enjoyed this book and read it in two days. Neveah’s a poet and there are bits of her poetry strewn throughout the book so we can get a really in depth look into who she really is. I was skeptical of the book at first glance because I feel like stories about black kids in their own spaces without a white best friend or boyfriend are hard to come by. It feels like the industry knows that they need to include the white readers in some way that has never been a concern when the shoe is on the other foot, but I’m glad I didn’t let that deter me because biracial stories matter. That split between the two worlds is real and deserves illumination, especially now that we’ve all collectively realized we are not in a post-racial society. Neveah doesn’t always say the right things or do the right things and she gives sermons on privilege and what it means to be an ally in the way she chooses or doesn’t choose to move in the world. It was a great read, an engaging one and definitely one to add to the bookshelf.

I found a few typos so another grammar review is necessary.

This story follows Neveah, a biracial teen, who is dealing with life upheaval of her parents messy divorce. As she struggles to understand herself and the realities of the world around her she learns the true importance of friendship, romance, and family.

This coming of age story that is based on the author, Natasha Diaz's, own life experience was amazing from start to finish. The combination of classic novel, diary entries, and poetry was a beautiful combination that kept me engrossed and desperate to read more of the story. The words themselves told a unique that I had not seen before in a contemporary since it offered a perspective on both race and religious divides. I found Neveah to be relatable in her struggles with her parents divorce as it is something that I experienced around the same age as Neveah, and I also was able to gain her perspective on how she say the world through the descriptive text. Her romance with Jesus was great to see grow before our eyes, but I feel could have been a little more flushed out and I found the initial lie to be a little cringey. I thought at times Jordan was a little overly aggressive in her responses, but overall I loved the family dynamic that was created for that household in Harlem. With Pa being the resolute and final authority, a strong female role model in both her aunt and later her mother, and a loving and caring Uncle who stood up for her when he believed her to be in danger (a real experience taken right out of Natasha's life), and cousins who ultimately loved her once they knew her and she knew herself.

Overall, this book blew me away and I will be keeping an eye out for anything else Natasha decides to write!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's for providing me with the eARC for my honest review!

Disclaimer: I received an eARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nevaeh suddenly finds herself living in Harlem with her grandpa, her aunt, her uncle, and her cousins after her mom’s separation from her father. Her mom is struggling with the separation, and because of this move, Nevaeh begins to really wrestle with what it means to be biracial. She’s half-Black and half-Jewish, but because she can pass for white at times, she’s never really considered what it means to be Black. At the same time, she’s never really considered what it means to be Jewish either until her father decides that she’s doing a belated bat mitzvah.

Ultimately, she must wrestle with the tension of what this all means for her and truly find her voice.

Color Me In is an ownvoices novel, and this shows. Nevaeh is a messy character at times, and what she wrestles with means that she messes up along the way. She hurts multiple people in this novel, but she’s not content to stay in that place. She wants to dig in and find out what made her mess up in the first place, and that’s really powerful.

Color Me In is a fantastic YA novel and releases August 20.

Color Me In brought up a lot of really great issues regarding racism and colorist. It also was very accurate to the experience of growing up in New York City (I especially liked how Stevie and Nevaeh had their coffee orders on lock since fifth grade because that’s so true). Nevaeh’s poetry felt a lot like it was written by a teenager and made her feel more real to me. Most of the characters I really liked, especially Corinne’s entire side of the family and Jesus. The biggest problems I had were that some of the characters felt like stereotypes (especially her dad’s relatives) and that Abby and her family were so cartoonishly evil. I feel like this book would have been better if they had more nuance. Overall, this is an interesting, quick, own voices YA read that starts an important conversation. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I received this ARC for review from Netgalley and Random House Children's (Thank you!).

As a person who doesn't read contemporaries, this one caught my attention. Although, my and Neveah's and my experience's aren't exactly the same, I did relate to a lot of what she felt when it came to the divorce of her parents and feeling like you don't belong anywhere.

Seeing Neveah's journey discovering herself was fustrasting and interesting to see unfold. I feel that her anger and confusion was justified and that some of her family should have just listened to get a little more.

Although Neveah is not a perfect character I enjoyed her story and felt that the ending was satisfying because it was not perfect and nothing was neatly tied up.

All in all if you are a biracial person that has struggled to find a space for yourself, you will definitely enjoy this book.

I loved this book! It was so beautiful and honest. I worried about the characters when I wasn't able to read the book and I found myself rooting for (just about) everyone. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is light skinned, white presenting, biracial (just like me and the main character). I would also recommend it to anyone who has struggled with their identity from being a member in a blended/mixed family. I think many folks will relate to Nevaeh as she finds who she is and grows to trust herself. I've read this book twice, already and am impatiently awaiting for when I have the physical copy in my hand!

A riveting read about how our differences can be our strengths while coming to terms with the duality of a bicultural family. We often ask ourselves who we are and rarely do we get an answer that truly fits which is what the main character struggles with here. Love the way the author didn't shy away from addressing issues like colorism in our Latinx cultures as this is something I could easily relate to.

I would call Color Me In a coming-of-age story, but it's really so much more than that. It's a coming-of-self story. Neveah Levitz is caught between a world she doesn't know, and another in which she doesn't fit in. After her parents' separate due to her father doing the unthinkable, she is forced to realize the life that was carefully constructed for her, isn't as clear cut as she once thought. Not Black enough to be fully excepted in the hood, but not quite White enough to fit in in the suburbs, Neveah is learning that it's okay to love one part of yourself while getting to know the other. After all, you can't cheat on yourself with yourself, right?

Even as Neveah struggles to come to terms with who her father truly is as a person and all the things that her mother had to go through, her internal strides towards becoming the best person that she can be, never waivers. She finds herself, her family, and the love of her young life.

Color Me in is an excellent book about racial identity and figuring out who you are in a world that constantly tries to tell you what they perceive you as. The characters are intriguing as hell and the romance was sticky sweet and a friendship between the main character and her best friend was adorable I would highly recommend to Color Me In for anyone

Color Me In follows the identity development of a young mixed girl finding her place between her divided families. I appreciated the way the complexity of the relationships between the family members (and the narrators understanding of her mother and aunt) developed in unexpected ways. There’s a compelling character study in how Diaz layers cultural development with the wishes of the narrator, and how she learns to speak for herself. There were some moments, specifically regarding her identity, that felt a bit canned; adding to the “how do I fit it?” question most mixed race youth have without really pushing it further until later in the narrative. As a reader/writer of the mixed race cannon (and mixed literary festival), I think this book has potential despite a slower start to reach a lot of young readers dealing with these questions for the first time.

Color Me In is a phenomenal exploration of multiple aspects of identity- culture, race, religion. I highly recommend this book for classrooms as it is an excellent discussion starter. Diaz has written an engaging and relatable main character. Fantastic story!