pariah

alike adepero oduye is a 17 year old african american woman who lives with her parents audrey and arthur kim wayans and charles parnell and younger sister sharonda sahra mellesse in brooklyn s fort greene neighborhood she has a flair for poetry and is a good student at her local high school alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian with the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend out lesbian laura pernell walker alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend at home her parents marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever alike s development becomes a topic of discussion pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague s daughter bina aasha davis alike finds bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with wondering how much she can confide in her family alike strives to get through adolescence with grace humor and tenacity sometimes succeeding sometimes not but always moving forward