Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Color Me In by Natasha Diaz

Posted August 26, 2019 by Lisa Mandina in giveaway / 12 Comments

Book info:

TitleColor Me In
Author:  Natasha Diaz
Genre:  YA contemporary, #ownvoices
Release Date:  August 20th, 2019
Publisher:  Delacorte Press
Source:  ARC received from publisher which did not influence my opinion
My rating:  5 stars

Synopsis:

Debut YA author Natasha Diaz pulls from her personal experience to
inform this powerful coming-of-age novel about the meaning of friendship, the
joyful beginnings of romance, and the racism and religious intolerance that can
both strain a family to the breaking point and strengthen its bonds.

Who is Nevaeh Levitz?

Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City,
sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots.
When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom’s family
home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time.

Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but one of her cousins
can’t stand that Nevaeh, who inadvertently passes as white, is too privileged,
pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices they face on a daily basis as
African Americans. In the midst of attempting to blend their families, Nevaeh’s
dad decides that she should have a belated bat mitzvah instead of a sweet
sixteen, which guarantees social humiliation at her posh private school. Even
with the push and pull of her two cultures, Nevaeh does what she’s always done
when life gets complicated: she stays silent.

It’s only when Nevaeh stumbles upon a secret from her mom’s past,
finds herself falling in love, and sees firsthand the prejudice her family
faces that she begins to realize she has a voice. And she has choices. Will she
continue to let circumstances dictate her path? Or will she find power in
herself and decide once and for all who and where she is meant to be?




My Review:
This is definitely going to be one of the best books I've read this year.  There was so much to this story, things that if you aren't in that situation, you have no idea about what really happens.  Knowing that the author grew up with this type of life totally made this stand out so much for me.  But not only was it a really deep look at that, it totally was a teenager's story.  First off, as much as Nevaeh was going through herself, she soon had to realize that she wasn't the only one going through things.  Her friends were; her family, including her cousins, mother, aunt, uncle, grandpa, were all going through stuff. And not just them, but even people like her rabbi that was helping her go through to get ready for her bat mitzvah.  There was also poetry in the book, poetry that the main character was fitting to her current feelings and situation.  Nevaeh also found her mother's diary, and for her to see what led up to her mom and dad getting together, as well as what her mom dealt with as a teenager was so perfect for this story.  

Personally, at my age, it really stood out to me that now we have stories about teenagers who their parents were young when 9/11 happened.  As someone who was a teacher at the time, that really makes me feel even older.  But reminds me of all the things that I hear my parents talk about that I wasn't alive for, but that was such a major event in their lives.
About the Author:

Natasha Díaz is a born and raised New Yorker, currently residing in Brooklyn, NY with her tall husband. She spends most of her days writing with no pants on and alternating between E.R. and Grey’s Anatomy binges. Formerly a reality TV producer, Natasha 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. Raised by a first generation half-Liberian/half-Brazilian mother and a Jewish-American father, Natasha writes stories about people who don’t fit into the boxes society imposes, and instead, create their own as they search for their places in the world. Her first novel, Color Me In, will be published by Delacorte Press/Random House August, 20 2019.



 
Giveaway:

  • 3 winners will receive a finished copy of COLOR ME IN, US Only.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule:

Week One:

8/1/2019- Kait Plus Books- Excerpt

8/2/2019- Utopia State of Mind- Review


Week Two:

8/5/2019- Lifestyle of Me- Review

8/6/2019- Country Road Reviews- Review

8/7/2019- Mythical Books- Excerpt

8/8/2019- BookHounds YA- Review

8/9/2019- Books and Ladders- Review


Week 3:

8/12/2019- Wonder Struck- Review

8/13/2019- dwantstoread- Review

8/14/2019- My Creatively Random Life- Excerpt

8/15/2019- Confessions of a YA Reader- Excerpt

8/16/2019- Jena Brown Writes- Review


Week 4:

8/19/2019- We Live and Breathe Books- Review

8/20/2019- Eli to the nth- Excerpt

8/21/2019- A Gingerly Review- Review

8/22/2019- Novel Novice- Excerpt

8/23/2019- Owl Always Be Reading- Excerpt


Week 5:

8/26/2019- Lisa Loves Literature- Review

8/27/2019- Book-Keeping- Review

8/28/2019- PopTheButterfly Reads- Review

8/29/2019- Two Chicks on Books- Excerpt

8/30/2019- Two points of interest- Review

--> 

Please follow and like us:
0
fb-share-icon0
Tweet 0
Pin Share20

Tags: , , , , , ,


12 responses to “Blog Tour Review with Giveaway: Color Me In by Natasha Diaz

  1. Excellent review. I have this on my TBR, but you've highlighted so many reasons why I should move it up on my list. I am really going to enjoy this book too as it will make me think and see the world differently.

  2. I have seen a lot of people loving this one lately so it's going to be another one on my TBR. It sounds like this author has written a fictional story but also been able to sprinkle in some of her own experiences because this is own voices. It sounds amazing and like one I am going to really appreciate reading as well.

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.