Whilst I was thoroughly intrigued by the rest of my story, as a mother and wife to white appearing Indigenous persons and having similar experiences of not knowing which race my children and husband should fit into, (and thus being able to empathize with him on that level) I wasn’t able to complete this book due to unexpected content.

Out of respect to NetGalley and the author, wanted to give a fair and honest review of what I had read up until this point.

As a sexual assault survivor (female) of a male predator, the fact that his first sexual encounter was predatory and pedophilic (not on his part, but the woman’s) sickened me and I was unfortunately not able to continue reading the book due to my own trauma. Whilst unfortunately there is a double standard with underage men and adult women relationships not being considered statutory rape and being considered “consensual”, it is still is both that and pedophilia.

If it counts for anything, up until this part of the book, (for all intents and purposes, female on male rape,) this would have been a 5 stars for me. And I don’t want to punish the author for something that was not his fault, and the verbiage also led me to believe (at least up until where I was able to read) that he was mistakenly believing that this encounter was consensual, and wasn’t able to take into account that he’d been groomed. And also as an SA survivor I’m very big on rape being called what it is - rape - no matter the circumstances, rather than romanticized as consensual because the underage party was male rather than female. So for that reason I have to rate this book 4 stars.

This aside, it was incredibly well written, and compassionate account/memoir of not knowing quite where one fits in, and I had a difficult time putting it down until the moment I had to stop reading due to distressing content.

I wish the author all the best, and happiness and healing in his future.

This book is very interesting as it explores the concept of race as defined by others and as perceived by the individual. It also exposes the societal attitudes of the 1950s and raises some confronting questions about how far we have come since then. It’s well written and very moving.

Firstly, I would like to thank netgalley for the advanced reader copy. This book is a poetically descriptive, vulnerable look at the inner turmoil of a mixed race man, who identified culturally as black despite his white skin. The author recounts with refreshing candor the struggles he faced throughout his life, including the rejection of/bullying by the peers he desperately wanted acceptance from, finding love, going from living on the streets to a six figure corporate job, and how his racial identity was effected by/affected the actions and decisions he chose. In my personal opinion, this book is as important now as it would have been in the 50s when the author was growing up and provides representation to all of the mixed kids who feel they do not belong.

A White Duck in a Black Pond is an emotional, personal and engaging memoir from Dane Wycoff. As someone who has grown up and lives in a predominately white town in country Australia, I found this book to be an eye-opening and educational journey about the experiences of race, discrimination and identity. Dane’s desire to be accepted for who he is, whilst facing peer isolation, loss of friendship and alienation was a heartbreaking read. I think his desire to not assimilate and stand up for his beliefs and identity is a powerful message for readers.