Skindeep - Hardcover

Jones, Toeckey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060230517 ISBN 13: 9780060230517

Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books, 1986

Synopsis

Living in a society where racial prejudice is actually part of the national law, South African teenager Rhonda is stunned by a secret from her boyfriend's past.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 11-12 The tragedy that is South Africa, and the terrible effect apartheid has on white as well as black and colored people is explored in a fine novel in which the politics of legal racism and bigotry destroy a romance between two university students. Initially, Rhonda is repelled by Dave's shaved head, but she gradually becomes fascinated by himand, as the two are magnetically drawn toward each other, almost unwillingly, a love affair begins. Dave finally confesses that he is a pass-whitea colored man light-skinned enough to pass in white society. Rhonda, prisoner of her own upbringing, recoils in horror and disgust, thereby losing Dave. Here, the story becomes Rhonda's as she searches for answers to help her understand Dave's guilt and the lie he has lived. Interwoven are the views of others: Rhonda's family, whose complacency and good life are lived behind barred windows with guns under the bed pillow; the holocaust survivors whose own tragedy has made them loving, courageous "parents" to Dave; Dave's natural family; and a variety of Rhonda's friends. Particularly poignant is the portrayal of Rhonda's eight-year-old brother hero worshipping Dave, yet spewing the bigotry with which he's been brought up. The ending presents no easy answers, but, in Rhonda's growth as a human being, there is a glimmer of hope. The characters behave as many adults: they smoke, drink, use profanity, and have sex. The love affair is handled beautifully with explicit passion. This book tells a special story. Unfortunately, the cover is not nearly so attractive as the characters. Marjorie Lewis, Scarsdale Junior High School, N.Y.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this well-written, thought-provoking novel, Dave and Rhoda meet and fall in love, generally a simple enough situation, but since they live in South Africa their love story becomes a tale of ingrained prejudice and institutionalized discrimination. Rhoda is white, blond and beautifulunconsciously racist and consciously apolitical. Dave is rather a mysteryhe shaves his head and offers no explanation, and refuses to take Rhoda to meet his parents. Then he reveals to Rhoda that he is a pass-white (a child of parents classed as "colored" who is light-skinned enough to live as a white person), her immediate reaction of revulsion and horror sends him away. She regrets her decision, but when she does see him again, he tells her their relationship is over. In the epilogue, three years have passed and Rhoda and Dave have not met again. But their failed romance has served to politicize them both. By not concentrating on the issue but on its repercussions in people's lives, Jones's story provides a strong statement on the destructiveness of apartheid.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0060230517
• ISBN 13: 9780060230517
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 250