Sharon Draper's intense novel, Blended, is an honest, warm story of a family that shows both sides of racism, from a young mixed-girl perspective, Isabella, called Izzy. Izzy's father is black, and her mother is white, so she regularly feels like she doesn't fit in with society. When her parents abruptly get divorced after not getting along and fighting about silly, irrelevant topics, she blames the divorce and the brokenness of her family on herself. Throughout the process, she begins to lose the strong, young woman she is. Izzy and her brother Devin start to live a double life; two houses, two families, two wardrobes, and they eventually begin to feel like two different kids. After suffering for a while, Izzy's friend faces racism and becomes targeted and placed in danger. In history, classmates talked about lynching, and Izzy witnessed her black friend ending her day by being surprised with a noose in her. Isabella realizes that racism is a real event that takes place in the world and realizes that it does not need to define the person she is. Still, Izzy physically suffers from police brutality while being innocent and ends up with a gruesome bullet wound in a hospital. The event became overlooked, and people reacted as it was normal to act in society, so it did not receive the attention it deserved.
This novel contains serious topics such as identity development, family dynamics, and police brutality, but is the perfect mixture of all of them. Author Sharon Draper captures the feelings of her readers and the characters in a serious, and humorous way. She is unafraid to introduce mature topics in a sophisticated manner but easy to comprehend. Blended is a compelling, exciting story that showcases how a kid is trying to learn who they are, and figure out where they belong in the world.
Review Written by Anya, 7th Grade