Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Skin I’m In, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bullying and Insecurity
Self-Esteem, Support, and Friendship
Writing and Self-Expression
The Importance of Role Models
Summary
Analysis
Maleeka and her mom frame her congratulations letter alongside her dad’s poem. Maleeka then spends the rest of the day worrying about how to handle Charlese. Later, Charlese calls and says that she, Raise, and Raina can only give Maleeka $100 for the school damages. Maleeka says that she doesn’t have a choice but to tell the school what really happened—it’s not right for her to get in trouble for something that they all did.
Having saved John-John and won the library competition, Maleeka gains a degree of self-esteem. It is this newfound confidence that then enables her to try to stand up to Charlese. Because Maleeka is more secure in herself, she has more opportunity to stop Charlese’s bullying.
Themes
Charlese starts laughing at Maleeka, explaining that she stole Miss Saunders’s watch and slipped it into Maleeka’s locker—so when the school searched Maleeka’s locker, they found the watch. Now, everyone really believes that Maleeka destroyed Miss Saunders’s classroom. Then, Charlese threatens to beat Maleeka up if she tells on her. When Charlese hangs up, Maleeka starts rocking herself. She thinks that she’s probably going to get expelled.
Charlese manipulates Maleeka by framing her and threatening her with violence. However, given Maleeka’s newfound confidence after saving John-John and winning the writing contest, there’s hope that she’ll find the courage to stand up for herself and tell an adult the truth about what happened.
Themes
