I am always in search of literature that highlights and lifts the Native American experience in America, reason for which I requested this book. I was sorely disappointed.

This is the story of Jen, a teen who is half Cree, half white, and her experience in art school, where she is not accepted and made fun of due to being indigenous. The story itself is a typical one, and could have been told in a compelling way, but the writing is very poor, the dialogue is worse. I have seen better writing from my high school students. The experiences of Jen as a Cree girl at the school are stereotypical, and the plot is not just undeveloped, but undeveloped. There is nothing to draw the reader in; nothing is shown, everything is told.

Dreaming in Color was a quick, insightful read that I thoroughly enjoyed. Jen, the main character, was interesting and I appreciated the dedication she had to her art. The love between she and her family was felt. Jen's insecurities are insecurities that teenagers feel every day. This is a book I'd highly recommend.

Thank you Netgalley and Orca Publishing for the opportunity to read this as an ARC in exchange for a fair review.

I always love reading about art and artsy people, and the book cover caught my eye. I requested it without bothering to see that it was YA/middle grade fiction. Once I realized that, I was a bit dubious as to whether I'd enjoy it.

I'm happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Melanie Florence's Dreaming in Color. While this definitely wasn’t my normal type of reading material, it was a refreshing change from some of the heavy, dark novels I’d recently read.

From the start, Jen is a sympathetic character. She’s hard-working, loves her family, and passionate about her art. She desires to push her creative boundaries and to be around people who take art as seriously as she does. The art school accepts her, which thrills her. But she’s nervous, too. Will she fit in? Will she make friends? A lot of kids–even a lot of adults–will able to identify with her mixed feelings and insecurities.

Jen feels like a true fourteen-year-old girl. Even her new art school friends have their lives mapped out, while she wonders what to do after high school. As I read her internal thoughts, I was nodding, too. My young teen daughter complains that all her friends have their lives planned out (unrealistically so, IMO) and she doesn’t have any ideas for her career. Reassurances from me don’t help, especially when schools–even cool art schools like Jen’s–push for specialization early on. But for those who feel that they’re already “behind” (at age 14!) because they haven’t picked their life-long dream career, Jen’s emotions will feel familiar and reassuring. Not everyone knows what they want to be when they grow up.

I absolutely loved that the art school teachers are so cool. I would’ve loved to have seen more of them, in particular the English teacher. Mr. Sutherland has a first-day-of-school monologue about how graphic novels are just as important as other kinds of books. While my high school English teachers would’ve frowned upon this notion (and never would’ve worn a Spider-Man hoodie) this is an important idea. Books are books, whether they’re audio or graphic, low readability or high readability. I appreciate that Melanie Florence took the opportunity to subtly encourage this.

The plot moves at a quick pace, building up to a school-wide art show. Jen, who often uses indigenous-inspired elements in her artwork, works hard. But even her hard work and obvious talent can’t stop other students from sneering that she was the school’s “diversity pick.” A small group of bullies picks at her. Their words are cruel, but their assumptions are unfortunately all too common.

Jen is part Cree, part white. While she resembles their Cree mother, her older brother John resembles their Caucasian father. Jen wishes that she looked more like John: life would be easier, she thinks, because it would be easier to fit in. Yet as she learns, that’s not really true.

I would’ve liked a little more depth to some of the secondary characters like Jen’s friends Sabrina and Dan. They didn’t come to life for me like Jen and her family did. However, that’s really my only complaint.

One thing I particularly enjoyed was the descriptions of Jen’s artwork. She incorporates indigenous elements into her work in some creative ways. I was particularly impressed by the piece she exhibits at the final art show. It is a moving, emotional piece that powerfully portrays a message of love and acceptance.

Melanie Florence does a terrific job telling Jen’s story of self-acceptance in a warm, interesting, and reassuring way. I thoroughly enjoyed Dreaming in Color and recommend it for hi-lo readers and middle-school aged tweens/teens, especially those interested in art or racial issues.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.

This review will be published on my blog on September 25, 2020.

Thank you to Orca Book Publishers for providing me with an E-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

"Dreaming in Color" by Melanie Florence was an absolute delight to read. I don't know how else to phrase it! I loved it a lot. I had no expectations going into it, as I found out about it just scrolling through NetGalley, and hadn't heard/read any reviews from anyone I follow. But it turned out to be wonderful.

It follows a young girl going into her first year at an art high school, as she navigates anti-Indigenous racism, friendship, and self-acceptance. I'm very bad at remembering character's names, so forgive me, but I really did love the main character in this book. I could feel her ambition, drive, and talent jump right off of the pages, and it was quite inspiring to read. She cares so deeply about her art and celebrating Indigenous culture, which was very heartwarming. I also really enjoyed the family dynamics in this. Her mom is Indigenous, and her Dad is Irish. She looks a lot more like her Mother, while her Brother looks more like their Father. Her and her brother's struggle with a lack of sense of belonging because of their appearance and how they're perceived in their community was a really awesome storyline that I loved reading about. I know there's a companion novel about her Brother, and it goes more in depth about his journey of dancing at Pow-wows, which I'm definitely interested in eventually reading. Furthermore, I loved how the main character's inner journey to self-acceptance was explored. I thought it was very well-done.

My only problem with this book was that I found the main character's friends to be a little one-dimensional and under-developed. It felt as though they were just there to further the main character's plot, and not really their own characters with distinct personalities. I would have loved to learn more about their individual lives, because overall, their friendship group was very pure and lovely to read.

Admittedly, I haven't read very many books following Indigenous characters, and I'm really hoping to change that. But this was an incredible introduction, and I know that this story will stick with me for a long time. Even though it was a quick, short read, it really had an impact and I think it's an important story. I definitely recommend it, and I hope more people read it! A true 4/5-star book for me.

A quick, approachable read aimed at middle grade readers. Jen, our MC, is a 14 year old Indigenous/Irish girl starting high school at a prestigious art school, thinking she's found a place where she belongs- she makes two friends, Sabrina and Dan, right away. It doesn't take long, however, for racism to rear its ugly head, with a group of students saying she only got in to fill a quota, and what a shame it is that a more deserving student didn't get the spot, and hassling her for making art that's too "Indian." When her project for an important art show is vandalized, she creates a new piece that expresses her complex feelings about being mixed race, and has a happy ending after all.
I enjoyed the story more than I thought I would, to be honest. It highlights the present-day struggle of being Indigenous, especially mixed Indigenous; trying to be true to one's heritage and honoring that, while dealing with the modern world that isn't always accepting of "otherness." The support of her older brother, who has red hair and presents as white, and who also experiences racism for being too white at pow-wows, is lovely, and I loved that Jen has a male friend who is a friend, not a potential love interest. Jen decides not to report the vandalism, which I can understand. She can't prove who did it, she's feeling unsure, and turning inward, a very adolescent thing to do (and often an adult thing to do too). She doesn't give in to the racism and bullying, which is good. Thing get wrapped up into a happy ending a bit too easily, but it's satisfying. The novella length of the story makes for a quick read, and the representation is important and needed. Definitely recommended!

#DreaminginColor #NetGalley

I volunteered to read this book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. You guys this book is well written and the characters are described well. It makes you think about what everyone goes through. I really enjoyed this book I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone, you guys it is a 5 star book. You guys would enjoy this book. It is well paced.

Have you heard of the Orca Soundings series of books published by Orca Book Publishers? These are incredible books written for middle grade to young adult audiences that are intriguing and stories of depth while still accessible to those who are not yet confident readers.

Dreaming in Colour by Melanie Florence is a newest addition to the Orca Soundings line. It’s almost a follow up to her 2017 release He Who Dreams. In Dreaming in Colour we go back to the McCaffrey family but this time we have a story from Jen’s perspective. She’s a brilliant artist who gets into a prestigious art high school yet still faces racism and injustice in a place she thought would be more open minded.

Melanie Florence takes us through Jen’s journey to believing in herself and accepting herself and her family, it’s their differences that make them strong. Melanie does an incredible job of highlighting all of the microaggressions faced by Indigenous people on a regular basis. In Jen’s case it starts when she arrives at her art school audition and people assume her father is not her biological father. It continues with assumptions being made by classmates about her worthiness of admission. I love Jen’s strength and grit. She’s not shy to let people know they are being racist. I also really love the supporting characters Sabrina and Dan. They are strong supportive friends to Jen and help to lift her up.

Dreaming in color follows our main character Jen who recently got accepted into an art school that she has been dreaming of going to as long as she has loved art.

I loved this book it was very fast-paced and I finished it in one sitting. I loved seeing how passionate Jen was about her art and how she wouldn’t let other people's opinions affect that. I love love loved her relationship with her older brother John. I also loved how much her friends supported and helped her throughout this book.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will be picking up future books from this author. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jennifer McCaffrey is half-Cree and half-Irish. She resembles her Indigenous mother and her brother John takes after their Irish father. When Jen is accepted into a prestigious art high school, she is absolutely thrilled, but her joy is cut short when some classmates accuse her of being a "diversity pick." Jen wishes her skin color resembled her brother, believing that his "whiteness" allows for greater inclusion. This belief is tested when Jen attends a Pow-wow to watch John dance and is surprised to overhear comments that her brother shouldn't be allowed to dance. As the story continues, things get even worse for Jennifer at her art school and it takes her own strength and courage, and belief and confidence in her identity to stand up to the bullies.

High interest-Low vocabulary books are challenging to write and Melanie Florence does a brilliant job of creating a page turner with appropriate vocabulary while tackling very real-life issues faced by minorities and marginalized populations.

I definitely recommend adding this book to classrooms. We need more hi-lo books with indigenous representation.

Thank you NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review!*

*Special thank you to NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for this arc in exchange for an honest review!*

Dreaming in Color follows Jennifer—"Jen"—McCaffrey, an aspiring artist accepted at a prestigious art high school as a freshman. Jennifer McCaffrey is half-Cree and half-Irish. Her skin color resembles her Indigenous mother's, whereas her brother John's skin tone is lighter and is closer in color to their Irish father's. While Jen is proud of her heritage, the kids at her art school target her and brand her as the "token minority", attributing her acceptance to her lineage.

The pages flew by—I found myself reading this in one sitting because everything was so fast-paced and succinct. With such a short book, I was concerned over how in-depth the development of the story would be , but Melanie Florence does a masterful job at keeping us turning the pages while address the real-life issues that minorities are often subject to. Bullying, stereotypes, and being outcasted are just a few of the many things that minorities face, and Florence does shy away from portraying Jen and John's similar struggles despite their differences in skin tone.

While the story focuses more on Jen's story, we get a peek of John's own experiences being half-Cree and half-Irish, as he's picked on for being light-skinned at a powwow dance. The parallel between Jen and John's own experiences for being "different" goes to show that society gravitates towards ostracizing anyone that's an anomaly.

The only downside of the book was that it was a bit too short for my taste. I would have liked to see more development for the side characters, Sabrina and Dan. I appreciated how supportive of Jen they were, but they felt completely flat and one-dimensional. More character development on their end would have made the story more enjoyable.

Overall, this was a pretty solid read. I recommend it for a younger audience.

3.75 out of 5 stars

This is a sweet story of overcoming prejudice and finding out where you really belong.

Jenn has been working on her art for years, incorporating elements of her Cree mother’s heritage. She applies to a prestigious, art-focused high school, but is devastated when some of her classmates say she was just a diversity pick and doesn’t deserve to be there. When others say her brother, who looks more like their Irish father, shouldn’t be dancing at a Pow-wow, Jenn boils over. Where does their mixed-heritage family belong?

Perfect for younger teen readers! This book is marketed for reluctant readers, and doesn’t have any of the more mature themes you sometimes see in YA. Even the sentence structure is simplified. Pick up this book for teens struggling to read at grade level or any student who would like to see more Idigenous representation in books.

Dreaming in colour is a beautiful teenage fiction of a talented young girl who got admitted into prestigious art school and when she finally thought that her dreams are fulfilled, new struggles begin which throw her off guard, makes her realize her potential while also bringing her closer to the life she wants. I would recommend this book for a quick weekend reading.

A great follow-up to Melanie Florence’S earlier book about John. Jen’s feelings of not belonging, and pride come through equally in the story, as does the unwavering support of her family and new art school friends. The comparison and contrast between this story and John’s is lovely.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Dreaming in Color in exchange for an honest review.

Dreaming in Color is a shorter novel, written specifically for teen readers with lower literacy capabilities or levels to make YA more accessibly to them and it does so wonderfully.

Dreaming in Color followed Jen, our ninth grade protagonist, after she gets into art school. Her mother is Cree, her father is Irish, and Jen is used to getting mistaken for being purely Cree because of her resemblance to her mother whereas her brother John is often mistaken as being purely Irish because of his resemblance to their father.

At art school, Jen makes both friends and enemies, with some of the kids resenting her presence in the program and claiming that she only got let in because she's a minority. Dreaming in Color follows Jen as she learns about identity, confidence, and how to raise above those who want to pull her down.