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Birdie and her older sister Cole are daughters of a white mother and a black father, living in Boston in the 1970s. Though the two girls share an impenetrable bond, they begin to realize as they get older that they are divided by how they look: Cole, with her dark skin, fits in with the other girls at their all-black school, while Birdie is light-skinned enough to "pass" as white.

When the girls' parents get into some trouble, the family splits apart. Their father and his new girlfriend take Cole with them to Brazil, and Birdie goes on the lam with their mother, living on the road for a few years before settling down in rural New Hampshire.

With her mother paranoid of the Feds, Birdie is forced to take on a new identity. From that point forward she is Jesse Goldman, and wears a Star of David around her neck to "pass" as Jewish instead of black. This allows her to fit in at her New Hampshire school, where the few black students are treated as pariahs.

But living this lie and denying her own identity take an inevitable toll on Birdie. Eventually, she runs away to find her father and sister.

Caucasia is a compelling and nuanced coming-of-age story about race, identity and family amid the backdrop of 1970s-1980s America. Birdie is a strong protagonist whose strength and vulnerability carry the narrative. It's always interesting to read stories like this one that help me see the world through an entirely different lens.