Bronx Masquerade

I really liked this book. I think Nikki Grimes did a great job getting issues that are hard for students and people in general to talk about. There are several interesting quotes in this book. While reading this book, I had several questions and wanted to get people's thoughts on them.

Question 1: Do you think that the title "Bronx Masquerade" and Open Mike Fridays had any correlation with the idea of inclusion?

My personal thoughts are that a masquerade is where people hind behind costumes so others do not know who you are. Open Mike Fridays was a way for students to express opinions and not really be judge. So in ways, I think that Nikki was really smart with the title.

Question 2: Has to deal with the insider/outsider debate. One of the major debates for outsiders was the face that they can break down stereotypes on the inside group. Nikki Grimes is an insider to this group yet she still used stereotypes in a way to break them down. Which type of author would you use in your classroom based on that finding?