Most teenagers know a little bit about the ‘darker’ social groups of the past and present; the kids who were ‘up to no good’ – hippies, punks, gangsters, goths, emos. One such group that has been all but erased from the minds of our society, are the skin heads.
Until recently, all I knew about skin heads would take only a sentence to say: “They shaved their heads and hated Jews.” Maybe society has consciously tried to erase these people from our history, but they did exist, and they were a tidal wave of power and hate.
Skin Deep, by Lois Ruby is a tale about a teenage boy caught up in that wave of hate. Ruby’s novel tells of the beliefs, dress code and lives of the boys and girls in the skin head movement. Her work is a testament to teenagers about the power of hate. The story is told from two points of view; one is of Dan, who becomes a skin, and the other is of Laurel, Dan’s girlfriend. Dan shows how hate and destruction can become the ‘only way out’, and Laurel’s viewpoint shows the other side of the coin; how watching a loved one fall can hurt. Skin Deep is a valuable and interesting novel with a message for everyone.
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