April 13, 2023
The Skin Between Us
We were excited and proud this morning as we unpacked cartons of former BookCourt staff member Kym Ragusa’s lyrical and compelling book, The Skin Between Us: A Memoir of Race, Beauty, and Belonging. Kym has written a moving remembrance of growing up in two battling Harlem communities of the ’70s: the West Harlem of her African American mother and the East Harlem of her Sicilian American father. Finding richness in her mixed heritage and a place for herself in the process, Kym’s childhood centered around her two grandmothers. As they provided the loving core of her upbringing, Kym gave these two strong women a common bond which enabled them to overcome their prejudices.
If you enjoyed The Color of Water by James McBride, Paula Fox’s memoir of her outsider childhood, Borrowed Finery, or Martha Southgate’s novel about three generations of African American women finding their connections to each other, Third Girl From the Left, you must read The Skin Between Us.
We are thrilled that Kym will be reading at BookCourt from The Skin Between Us on Friday, May 5th at 8pm.
Please join us then!
-Mary