Inclusive Lit. FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF MELANIN SUN By: Jacqueline Woodson

Bibliography: Woodson, Jacqueline. 1995. FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF MELANIN SUN. New York: Scholastic ISBN 0590458809

Summary

Melanin Sun is a thirteen year old boy who finds that his mother is in love with another woman. The story is told through his eyes. He fears what others will think of his mother’s relationship and is drawn apart from her as he struggles with the situation. Not only does he have to deal with the relationship his mother is involved in, but he is also beginning to discover girls and agonizes over the stirring feelings he is having about Angie. He begins to come to terms with the relationship that his mother has with the other woman, Kristen, but continues to worry about what other people will think and how he will deal with them.

Critical Analysis

This book won the Lambda Literary Award (1996) and was nominated for other awards including the Coretta Scott King Award (1996). I had not heard of the Lambda Literary Award and when googled found it is an award given by Lambda Literary Foundation which celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) literature. The book is set up with the story plot in chapters, yet additionally at intervals Melanin Sun conveys his private thoughts through his notebooks that he keeps and writes in. This makes this book somewhat unique over others. Cultural markers found within this book identify Melanin Sun as dark, darker than most. His clothing is similar to that of his contemporaries in his neighborhood. “I’m wearing a striped shirt. Short sleeves. Baggy Shorts. Black Pumas with a white stripe. No Socks. A baseball cap turned backwards. I have tiny dreads that I keep real neat – you know – keep them nice so the girls keep coming.” The type of clothing you might expect young boys to wear to be “cool”, particularly in urban areas. Kristin and Melanin Sun discussed the musical groups Arrested Development and Digable Planets. Although I didn’t know these were really groups I goolged them and found them to be hip hop groups which would be the type of music a young African American male might be interested in. Melanin Sun might be considered a “nerd” by some. His friends tease him about being a faggot because he likes to write and keep to himself and he collects stamps and worries about endangered species. From the beginning of the book the reader is aware that there will be problems that develop when he finds his mother is in love with another woman. A cultural marker as a teenager is the general worry of what other people will think of situations in your life. How people felt about Melanin Sun and their reaction to the situation was important to him. He knew that he would face a lot of nasty behavior when others found his mother was gay. “The other kind of “faggy” was the really messed up kind. That kind actually wanted to be with other guys the way I get to feeling when Angie comes around. That kind made me want to puke every time I thought about it – which wasn’t a lot.” When his mother tries to talk to Melanin Sun about gay people, he thinks she is accusing him of being a faggot. Melanin Sun definitely had the prejudiced view that so many have of gays and lesbians. When he finds out about the relationship in the car with his mother he thinks to himself that she is a dyke, a cultural marker indicating a relationship with another woman. He continues to scream at her “Please Mama. Please be anything. But don’t be a dyke.” Queer is another word that he uses to describe his mother. Melanin Sun has never had relationships with white people, other than his teachers, and he does not consider them as anything other than teachers. “I didn’t think about white people. They were a different species, living a different life in some other place.” When his mother’s friend, Kristin, comes to visit he finds “This woman wasn’t fine, or a sister. She was white. White. White.” The term sister is a cultural marker that is found within the African American community when they are talking about a woman of their color. It was interesting to find that Melanin Sun was apparently prejudiced against white people. He did not feel they belonged in his community. His community was for people of color – away from them and all their hatred and racism. In other words, he was judging this woman by the color of her skin, just as he felt the white people judged him by the color of his. This was an interesting turn of events. At one time when he was walking along the beach a group of white boys passed him and one said “Hey it sure is getting mighty dark around here.” The boys all laughed and it was later when he realized they were talking about him. These types of remarks and feelings about people of other color, unfortunately seem to be cultural markers. Before he even knew what the relationship between the two women involved he had a funny feeling in his stomach. The author allowed the reader to understand the situation before the protagonist did, yet his gut feeling was letting him know the relationship with his mother was changing. When others begin to talk about his mother’s relationship he tries to hide within the confines of his home. One of his friends reaches out to him as another turns against him. In the end Melanin Sun finds that like him Kristin has no other family. His was lost before he was born, hers was lost because of her chosen lifestyle. This is a situation that many gays and lesbians face. I hope that it is not as frequent as it once was.

Cultural markers abound in this book although many of them were not the typical markers you find in multicultural books. These markers included attitudes towards gays and lesbians, teenagers wishing to belong, hormonal changes that take place in a teenager and relationships between parents and children. This book involved so many different feelings from Melanin Sun. Feelings of changing from a boy to a man, feelings of how others would react to the relationship his mother was having with Kristin, feelings of how he felt about the relationship. Attitudes about white people were involved. The book covered so many different relationships, but drew them together in a way that made for good reading and empathy for Melanin Sun as he worked through the problems he was facing.

Review

Booklist: In a story that confronts bigotry with truth and sadness, Melanin, 13, is appalled when his mother tells him she loves a woman, and what's more the woman is white; however, Mel learns that there is room for whites in his world.

Horn Book Guide: The summer he is thirteen, Melanin Sun's mother tells him that she is in love with a white woman. Unable to sort out his feelings and confusions about sexuality, racial identity, and love, he punishes Mama by shutting her out of his life. Melanin's emotions are raw and often painful, and his response is both harsh and realistic. Woodson tells a powerful and ultimately hopeful story in this concise novel.

Connections

Other books by Jacqueline Woodson

MIRACLE’S BOYS

HUSH

LAST SUMMER WITH MAIZONMAIZON AT BLUE HILL

LOCOMOTION