The Bluest Eye
By Toni Morrison

When I was an adolescent, I dreamed of being a writer. At the time, books by black writers weren't taught in the public school system. So I grew up believing that black people didn't write books. It wasn't until I entered college that I discovered The Bluest Eye. It spoke to me in a way that no other book had. Pecola Breedlove's plight was the universal plight of little black girls. You move through a world where no one appreciates your beauty, not even within your own community. Pecola's search for acceptance finally leads her into insanity. And Morrison's language is woven like poetry as she takes us with Pecola on this descent into madness. There are no polemics here, but the book is an example of how writers can be most effective. Take a simple story, tell it honestly and well, and you can touch lives.