Voigt has written a moving novel of racial identity, of growing up and finding one's place in the larger world. She writes convincingly of a young African American woman's maturation. While there are instances in which Mina encounters prejudice, there are no violent racial incidents. Mina develops friendships from both races and behaves in an exemplary way by looking beyond color. Voigt, however, fails to balance her presentation as those people who behave in a prejudiced way are white.