The Life I'm In by Sharon G. Flake
Published by Scholastic Press on January 5, 2021
ISBN: 1338573179
Pages: 336
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
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The Life I’m In by Sharon Flake

 

For readers who loved Maleeka’s story of being bullied by Char in The Skin I’m In, this companion book is long overdue.  This realistic story is about what happens to Char when her older sister and guardian is fed up with Char’s actions and puts her on a bus to live with her grandparents out of state.

Char wants nothing to do with this, meets up with a girl with a baby and, when the mother leaves Char with the baby at a bus stop, Char’s world is changed drastically.   Characters come into Char’s life and, while some assist her on the way, others, like the man who pulls Char into being trafficked and forces her to call him “Daddy”, are horribly cruel.  But Char is a survivor, remains friends with Maleeka who has learned to stand up for herself, and in the end escapes and returns home to her sister with a new maturity.  This book answers the question of what happens next to Char and gets inside the head of a former bully to show her motivations.