Ellie Pillai is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam
Expertly reviewed by Daniela Gram. Thanks Dani!
‘Ellie Pillai is a brown girl living in a town in eastern England. She’s trying her best to navigate being a teenager like every other 15 year old but Ellie can’t help but stand out no matter how much she wants to be invisible just because of her skin tone. And she just so happens to live in a predominantly white town that has its fair share of racists.
She’s also keeping one rather large secret from her parents about her GCSE. Ellie has chosen drama, something she really wants to do, while her parents think she is taking a computer programming class. While trying to navigate her secret she is also trying to navigate friends, crushes and loss.
I really enjoyed this book. The thing I loved the most is how it managed to stay light hearted while also dealing with some heavy subjects. The book talks about loss and grief, mental health, coming out and difficult relationships with family, all while containing great dry humor and sarcasm which made me audibly laugh while reading, which rarely happens for me.
I also couldn’t put this book down. I just kept reading and reading and by the time I actually put it down I had read nearly 100 pages at a time. It was heart warming and fun while still tugging at my heartstrings.
I also believe that it’s really important to read book written by people in minorities so we are able to widen the spectrum of story telling, especially in the young adult genre. Teenagers and young adults need to know that flying through high school without a single issue isn’t the norm, far from it actually, and that it’s ok not to be popular, or white, or straight.
I really loved this book and could easily read it again which is why I would give it 4/5 stars.’