Maleeka Madison has spent her whole life being made fun of. No matter where she goes, she is always the main target. But she never does anything about this, she never defends herself. But this all changes when a new Language Arts teacher comes to McClayton Middle School.

Throughout the book, Maleeka gets pressured to do all sorts of things by the girls she thinks are her friends. But when it gets to the point that she almost burns down the school, things start to get serious. Although she’s really smart, gets good grades; she just doesn’t know how to stand up for herself. So when she meets Mrs.Saunders, at first she doesn’t like her, but after a while she starts to realize that she’s really wise. Mrs.Saunders helps her realize that standing up for what she believes is right isn’t a bad thing, and that there’s a difference between tattle telling on someone and telling the truth. And in the end Maleeka finally realizes who she really is and who her true friends are.

The Skin I’m In shows how important it is to be able to trust your friends, and to be able to know that they will stick up for you. It also shows how someone so weak can develop courage and become brave and strong. I really enjoyed reading this book; it has changed the way I look at things.