Shirlee Taylor Haizlip

This is a very well-written memoir (subtitled "A Family Memoir in Black and White") about a woman's search for the missing half of her mother's family---the half that made the decision to "pass" as white and left her "too dark" mother behind as a child. It explores the question of defining race, and what our roots really mean, in the context of a thoroughly fascinating story with a satisfying and hopeful outcome. Interesting counterpoint to the fictional tragedies of Faulkner's Joe Christmas and Charles Bon.
Reviewed in November, 2007… (more)

I loved this book for the way it calmly revealed an African American family's dealing with the overwhelming racism of American society. The author's mother had been abandoned by her family in 1916 because she wasn't white enough to "pass" with the rest of the family. Hizlip tracks down the relatives, one by one, and provides pictures that vividly illustrate her research. Long before Black Power or African heritage pride took their place in the United States, Haizlip's family's solution was a common one, and the history she gives is fascinating.
(Review by Nan, Bell, Librarian, Ithaca High School)… (more)