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See No Color Kindle Edition

by Shannon Gibney (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 63 ratings
See all formats and editions

"Transracial adoption is never oversimplified, airbrushed, or sentimentalized, but instead, it's portrayed with bracing honesty as the messy institution it is: rearranging families, blending cultural and biological DNA, loss and joy. An exceptionally accomplished debut."—Kirkus, starred review

For as long as she can remember, sixteen-year-old Alex Kirtridge has known two things about herself: She's a stellar baseball player. She's adopted.

Alex has had a comfortable childhood in Madison, Wisconsin. Despite some teasing, being a biracial girl in a wealthy white family hasn't been that big a deal. What mattered was that she was a star on the diamond, where her father, a former Major Leaguer, coached her hard and counted on her to make him proud. But now, things are changing: she meets Reggie, the first black guy who's wanted to get to know her; she discovers the letters from her biological father that her adoptive parents have kept from her; and her changing body starts to affect her game. Suddenly, Alex begins to question who she really is. She's always dreamed of playing pro baseball just like her father, but can she really do it? Does she truly fit in with her white family? Who were her biological parents? What does it mean to be black? If she's going to find answers, Alex has to come to terms with her adoption, her race, and the dreams she thought would always guide her.

• Winner of the Minnesota Book Award
• A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen book of the Year
• A Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year

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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    12 - 18 years
  2. Print length
    196 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    7 - 12
  5. Lexile measure
    780L
  6. Publisher
    Carolrhoda Lab
  7. Publication date
    November 1, 2015
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  12. ISBN-13
    978-1467776820
  13. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Debut novelist Gibney offers an unflinching look at the complexities of racial identity in the story of a black teenager trying to understand her place in the white family who adopted her. Gibney, herself a transracial adoptee, creates a visceral sense of isolation for 16-year-old Alex. Despite the love of baseball that unites her family (Alex and her brother are excellent players, and their father is their coach), she has almost no one to confide in: friends are nearly absent, and she doesn't know any adoptees who share her situation. When Alex finds hidden letters from her birth father, her questions mount. Should she contact him? Alex's uneasiness with the body beneath her skin is just as powerfully felt as she wonders whether she can continue to keep up with the boys on the diamond, gets unexpected romantic attention from a fellow player, and visits a black hairdresser for the first time. While not all of Alex's questions are answered by book's end, readers will finish this engaging, layered novel confident that she's ready to face whatever comes next, and with plenty to think about themselves."—starred, Publishers Weekly

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—For Alex Kirtridge, a 16-year-old transracial adoptee in Madison, WI, the topic of race has always been off-limits. Her white adoptive parents valiantly pretend not to see her as different in any way from their two biological children, yet she is treated as "other" by both black and white classmates. Alex tacitly agrees not to rock the boat, avoiding uncomfortable questions and devoting herself to being the star of the baseball team coached by her father, a former minor league player. But a stash of secret letters and a romance with an African American boy precipitate a journey of cultural and emotional exploration for Alex, forcing her to confront difficult truths about her adoptive and birth parents. The honest emotions in this coming-of-age novel will resonate with many readers who are grappling with finding a sense of belonging. Without lecturing readers, Gibney clearly elucidates many issues particular to transracial adoption and biracial identity while also making this a universal story about the need for acceptance. The sports content offers added appeal and a meaningful framework for the plot. At times the book seems to be taking on too much, but both major and secondary characters are well drawn and engaging. This thoughtful novel adds a much-needed perspective on a subject that affects many families but is rarely covered in YA fiction. VERDICT Recommended for purchase, particularly by libraries serving less diverse communities, where it will provide welcome education and support.—Laura Simeon, Open Window School Library, WA

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B013V6OVVI
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Carolrhoda Lab (November 1, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 1, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1977 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 196 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 63 ratings

About the author

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Shannon Gibney

Shannon Gibney

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Shannon Gibney is a writer, educator, activist, and the author of See No Color (Carolrhoda Lab, 2015), a young adult novel based on her experience as a transracial adoptee that won the 2016 Minnesota Book Award in Young Peoples' Literature. Her novel Dream Country (Dutton, September 2018), is the story of five generations of an African and African American family, trying to find freedom and home on two continents.

Gibney is faculty in English at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, where she teaches critical and creative writing, journalism, and African Diasporic topics. A Bush Artist and McKnight Writing Fellow, she is also at work on a children's picture book, a literary anthology of writing by women of color on miscarriage and infant loss, and a family memoir.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
63 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Sue Gambill-Read
5.0 out of 5 stars A transracial adoptee's realistic coming of age story
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2016
Verified Purchase
This book is perfect. I almost don't think I need to go beyond giving it 5 stars. Adequate words fail me in the face of such talent and skill in storytelling.

The pacing is excellent, the structure classic without feeling forced - the steady build up of tension to a crescendo (emotional meltdown) followed by resolution and empowerment. The author depicts a very realistic, age-appropriate developmental crisis, aka "coming of age" story, of a transracial adoptee. It's a modern journey of discovery rarely told by transracial adoptees in contemporary fiction and there is not a wasted word or scene, completely natural dialogue and relationships and reactions between characters. It's just flawless.

I don't feel like there is a lot more I can say without doing what the parents did in this book, which was to explain Alex to herself way too often. I hope I have read it as an anti-manual for adoptive parenting but I may never succeed in rising above the temptation of control, false as the illusion may be. And every kid, no matter what deck they've been handed, eventually has to find their own way in spite of their parents' best intentions.

Inspirational quote, universal for anyone who feels freakish in a world that dictates a narrow set of norms, (not a spoiler but it is well into the journey):

(Alex has discovered the world of online adoptee blogs and forums)

" . . I reflected on the fact that I might not be as much of a freak as I always thought I was. Maybe I just belonged to an outlaw tribe. One you wouldn't even know was there unless you knew how to go looking for it. And maybe those of us in the tribe weren't responsible at all for what had happened to us, all the things that had made us who we were. Maybe we actually had nothing to apologize for. To anyone."
3 people found this helpful
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Movie Mother
4.0 out of 5 stars Honest and illuminating
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2016
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This is a deeply emotional book about a teen girl facing the type of identity crisis many teens face, only exacerbated by the fact that she's a transracial adoptee. I was intrigued by this intimate look into the psychology of identity but less taken with the whole baseball subplot, which felt disconnected. There were a lot of threads in this beautifully written and generally satisfying book. The author is a transracial adoptee herself so that adds to the authenticity of the story and enhances the reading experience.
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Anne H
5.0 out of 5 stars One of Those Books You Don't Want to Put Down
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2021
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I love this book. I love that it tells a story about a transracial adoptee, but even before that it tells the story of a girl in the world. So there is the universal story of what it is like to be human and 16 and female and to have your parents have certain expectations of you, and then there is the artfully drawn story also of what it is like to have skin that does not match the color of your parents' skin. And to have a past narrative in your root system that has nothing to do with the parents you live with even though your roots are buried and presumably, non-existent and unimportant. To others.
If everyone read this book, I feel like the world would be a slightly softer, more understanding place.
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BookinItWithAhtiya
3.0 out of 5 stars Wanted More Character Development
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2024
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The first half of this book was excellent and felt like a potential 5-star read…but the second half did not deliver. I would have appreciated tons more character growth from the MC Alex and actual depth in some of the other Black characters so we didn’t fall into so many stereotypes. This book grazed the surface of so many important conversations and, honestly, could’ve (and probs should’ve) been twice as long. I turned the last page feeling unresolved, and I can only imagine what a young reader might feel if they were really connecting with and experiencing similar things to Alex.
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Susan
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2016
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Interested read
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Dirk Uphoff
5.0 out of 5 stars An Insightful Read
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2021
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“See No Color” is a well written book that captures so many of the trials of the black and white transracial kid growing up in a white world.
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Mike Cook
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2018
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Item was as described and arrived quickly.
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Teen Reads
3.0 out of 5 stars I Loved SEE NO COLOR Because it Taught Me Something That I Will Carry with Me For Awhile.
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2016
For as long as she can remember, sixteen- year-old Alex Kirtridge has known two things: 1. She has always been Little Kirtridge, a stellar baseball player, just like her father. 2. She's adopted. These facts have always been part of Alex's life. Despite some teasing, being a biracial girl in a white family didn't make much of a difference as long as she was a star on the diamond where her father, her baseball coach and a former pro player, counted on her. But now, things are changing: she meets Reggie, the first black guy who's wanted to get to know her; she discovers the letters from her biological father that her adoptive parents have kept from her; and her body starts to grow into a woman's, affecting her game. Alex begins to question who she really is. She's always dreamed of playing pro baseball just like her father, but can she really do it? Does she truly fit in with her white family? Who were her biological parents? What does it mean to be black? If she's going to find answers, Alex has to come to terms with her adoption, her race, and the dreams she thought would always guide her.

The protagonist of SEE NO COLOR, Alex, was quite relatable. She embodies the typical teenager who is going through a difficult time in her life. Although her main problem was not necessarily anything I have gone through, I could relate to her feeling that she didn’t fit into where she was placed. The plot was also developed well throughout the novel. There were twists and turns throughout that I did not expect, which kept the plot interesting. As great as all these things were, however, they were not what made me like the book so much. I only realized the true impact of SEE NO COLOR when I was having a conversation about it with a friend.

The conversation started when I was venting about the placement of detail in certain scenes because I didn’t understand why the author would choose to do that. However, my friend thought that the special attention to detail was an essential part of driving the plot. She thought that it helped highlight the most important topic of the book --- racism. Our conversation revealed to me that our perception and understanding of any book depends on what kind of lives we lead and the experiences we have had. My friend had grown up and been raised in an environment that was drastically different from mine. In fact, we were born and raised in different countries. Our life experiences up until right now have been completely different, which explained our different opinions on the book.

I realized that no piece of creative work is cut and dry. No one individual can identify what the author is intending when they write a book, a sentence or even one specific word. Our interpretation of a text is just that --- an interpretation. I have had that drilled into my head since I have started taking English classes but never understood the full implications of it until I had this particular discussion, and I read the rest of SEE NO COLOR in a dualistic manner.

I read it from my perspective --- which was the one determined by my previous life experiences --- but also tried to view the text as being from the perspective of someone who had totally different experiences than me. It was almost like I took on the persona of another reader while reading the book. While this may sound a bit weird, I enjoyed reading the book this way and I do want to take this style of reading with me when I read other books.

I loved this book, not only because of the plot and the characters but because it taught me something that I will carry with me for a while. In truth, that is where the true value of books lie. All books teach us something new even though it may not be obvious. What I learned from this book in particular proved to be very important and I know it will affect how I read books for a long time coming.

SPOILER SECTION:

One subplot I wished that was more developed was the relationship between Alex and her biological father. She spends so much of the book talking about how she does not feel like she belongs and how she wished she could talk to her biological parents. However, when she finally does get a chance to do so, the storyline is not developed. We do not get to see how the relationship looks after a few more meetings. I wish there was more of a closure to that subplot but that was my only complaint about the book.

Reviewed by Pranshu A.
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