BECOMING MAREN
Africa Fine
ISBN: 1-59414-081-2
November 2003
Five Star Publishing
Hardcover
Contemporary Fiction

Maren and Ellison are two normal black teens growing up in Chicago. Although their mother is a local television celebrity, they lead relatively normal lives.  They attend a primarily white, private high school, but racism is not a big part of their problems.  Ellison, a senior, is part of the “in” crowd, while Maren is a typical sophomore, learning about makeup and trying out for the cheerleading squad.  It’s life as usual, until one day they get a visit from the police telling them their mother has been killed in an auto accident. 

When they are forced to move to Durham, North Carolina to live with their father, Ellison and Maren feel left out of the family.  Although they now live in a black community, they find that they fit in less at school, and their roles reverse with Maren being the popular one.  Ellison continues to get taunted, so he stops trying to fit in with the other kids.  As Maren grows up, she finds herself changing, and is not sure she likes the changes in her life.  Maren finds out what becoming an adult means, yet retains her child-like outlook on life.

The teen problems that are portrayed through Maren and Ellison give the story a realistic background.  The family problems that are typical of today’s society, make Maren and Ellison seem like real people, not characters from a novel.  The anger, hurt and lust of today’s teens give this novel a five star rating from this reviewer.  Africa Fine has created a fiction novel that reads like a biography.  She makes Maren’s feelings jump from the page into the reader’s heart.  Ms. Fine’s characters come to life with her words.  She paints a picture of the lives of her characters that gives the feeling of watching down on them from above. 

Reviewed by Angie
February 2004 

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