Color Me In
Natasha Diaz

Color Me In is a coming-of-age YA novel about the important role defining one’s identity is in an individual’s journey to come-of-age. It is Nevaeh’s story, one about a high-school aged young woman forced to deal with the effects of polarizing social categories: Christianity and Judaism; white-skinned and dark-skinned; upper social class and blue-collar working class.

Because of her parents’ recent separation, Nevaeh and her mother have moved away from their bougie community where Nevaeh has lived most of her life secluded from her extended family to a community of color and her mother’s people. Living with her maternal side of the family, Nevaeh confronts feelings of confusion, guilt, and shame when facing multiple situations where she is treated positively because of her light skin color while witnessing her family and friends in the same community treated differently because of their shades-of-brown skin. The feelings of confusion, guilt, and shame are exacerbated when Nevaeh uncovers truths about her parents that further cloud her ability to self-identity.

Color Me In highlights intersectionality; the character of Nevaeh is complex and her very existence stems from multiple interconnected social categories presenting problematic disadvantages. As Nevaeh learns to navigate social challenges posed because of her multiple identity characteristics, she is also learning who she wants to be. Rather than learn how to balance competing identities, she chooses to intertwine aspects of her identity to forge her own unique personhood.

Natasha Diaz is both an author and screenwriter. Her scripts have placed as a quarterfinalist in the Austin Film Festival and a finalist for both the NALIP Diverse Women in Media Fellowship and the Sundance Episodic Story Lab. Her essays can be found in The Establishment and Huffington Post.

Color Me In is a publication by Random House. Click here to purchase.
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Reviewed by
Melinda Zepeda
​2/4/2020

Melinda Zepeda has writing published or forthcoming in the anthologies ¡Basta! 100+ Latinas Against Gender Violence and Péinate: Hair Battles Between Latina Mothers & Daughters. She writes monthly for the online magazine Hispanecdotes. Her children’s manuscripts tentatively titled Diego Finds Spanish and Miss Papas Visits City Council are currently in review. 

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