BOOK REVIEW: Mixed by Angela Nissel

I loved Angela Nissel's first book, The Broke Diaries, which was taken from the blog of the same name that she wrote as a VERY poor student in Philadelphia in the nineties. Her second book, Mixed takes on a completely different subject: growing up mixed race in the eighties, and how it affected Angela. It touches on her parent's divorce, her self-esteem issues, family relationships, romantic relationships and mental health issues.

And it's brilliant.

Angela Nissel (pronounced 'nizzle') was born to a white father and a black mother, and that's what she always told anyone who questioned her about her origins- which they often did, and still do. Growing up, she never knew anyone who looked like her, and in an effort to reassure her, her mother would tell her that swarthy-looking white people were mixed-race, too. This culminated in Angela giving a school report on well-known biracial TV star, David Hasselhoff... and her mother re-thought her tactics.

When her parents split up, Angela, her mother and brother (who had darker skin than hers) moved to all all-black neighbourhood, where Angela still didn't fit in. Back and forth she went to different schools, never fitting in, always singled out and adding to the problem bu being deeply uncomfortable in her own skin.  This book moves from the hilarious to the heartbreaking within pages- and I mean that in a good way!

It's not a heavy book, and it's not a long or difficult read at all. Somehow Angela manages to be both moving and thought provoking whilst never hectoring, lecturing or allowing herself to become a victim. She's been through some difficult times and struggled to fit in as a child (and a young adult) but she's now made peace with herself and her life so far. I'm sure it helps that she's happily married, living in L.A and working on Scrubs as a consulting producer, too...

Seriously though, this book made me evaluate my own attitude to race- I think most white people are like the people Angela meets, who class her as black. But isn't she as much white as black? Or does being mixed race automatically make you part of the black experience (whatever that may be)? We'd all like to think race isn't important, but aren't we classifying people every day without even thinking about it? The quotes at the start of each chapter were illuminating and brought homes these points. This book made me think, while entertaining me, making me laugh and just generally being a joy to read. That's not an easy feat so I can't wait to see what Ms Nissel writes about next...

Rating: 5 out of 5

Like this? Try My (So-Called) Normal Life by Erin Zammett.

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