The Weight of Blood is Tiffany D. Jackson’s homage to Stephen King’s Carrie. As such, I thought it was masterfully written. Our main character is Maddy, a biracial girl whose father is forcing her to pass as white. He diligently straightens her hair with a hot comb to keep up the ruse. Maddy is careful to avoid water, because getting her hair wet would expose her. One day, she is outside during PE class and it suddenly starts raining. Her secret is out. Maddy has always been the weird girl, and this just adds fuel to the fire. Her classmates immediately start bullying her. A video of the bullying goes viral online. Maddy’s classmate Wendy, a popular white girl, convinces her friends to help her organize an integrated prom to make the school look better. Yes, this school, in 2014 has separate prom’s for Black and white students. Wendy convinces her Black football star boyfriend to invite Maddy to the “everyone prom” in an attempt to atone for her part in how Maddy has been treated. Not everyone is happy to have an integrated prom, and this is where the trouble really starts. I was impressed with how Jackson was able to tell an insightful story about racism, both overt and systemic, while still keeping the fundamental essence of Carrie. Her creativity is amazing. Halfway through reading this book, I learned that it’s a YA novel. I never would have guessed although it is a book that teenagers absolutely should read. It’s highly entertaining while also making important points. Highly, highly recommended. (read less)

The Weight of Blood is Tiffany D. Jackson’s homage to Stephen King’s Carrie. As such, I thought it was masterfully written. Our main character is Maddy, a biracial girl whose father is forcing her to pass as white. He diligently straightens her hair with a hot comb to keep up the ruse. Maddy is careful to avoid water, because getting her hair wet would expose her. One day, she is outside (read more)

This book was one of my favorites, to me, it felt like a cross between Imitation of Life and Carrie. The story revolves around a young girl named Maddy, who is biracial, but who has always been forced by her white father, to pass herself off as white. Maddy attends high school in a small town in Georgia, where even though she passes herself off as white, she is still the target of bullying and is no more than a social outcast amongst her peers. However, after a viral video expose the school's racist background, students decide to host an integrated prom in order to prove that they aren't racist at all. Like the story Carrie, the popular (white) class president convinces her (black) quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to the dance. During this time, a rainstorm reveals the fact that Maddy is in fact bi-racial, and during the dance, when the students decide to play the ultimate bullying prank on Maddy, Maddy discovers that she's got powers of her own to help her fight against here bullies. Again, this was a great story that reminded me so much of Imitation of Life; with Maddy passing herself as white, and Carrie, with the theme of bullying, social outcasts, and powers of destruction that ultimately leave the bullies in shock. This story also holds important messaging about being biracial and trying to fit in, and about bullying in general. I think the themes of race and bullying are so important to discuss in school because even though we are pride ourselves on being a "diverse and multicultural" society, there is still so much hate and racism in the world, and because of social media it seems as though bullying is getting worse instead of better. (read less)

This book was one of my favorites, to me, it felt like a cross between Imitation of Life and Carrie. The story revolves around a young girl named Maddy, who is biracial, but who has always been forced by her white father, to pass herself off as white. Maddy attends high school in a small town in Georgia, where even though she passes herself off as white, she is still the target of bullying (read more)