What are the characteristics of Miss Saunders in The Skin I'm In?

In Sharon G. Flake's book The Skin I'm In, the character of Miss Saunders is a positive influence on Maleeka. Miss Saunders uses corrective tactics to bring out Maleeka's untapped writing potential. Despite her noticeable skin condition, Miss Saunders represents a confident, self-assured woman. Both Maleeka and Miss Saunders are scrutinized and ridiculed because of their appearance, and Miss Saunders signifies how self-acceptance and internal growth can triumph amid this daily struggle. Consider this quote:

To look in the mirror and like what you see, even when it doesn’t look like anybody else's idea of beauty. (Chapter 4)

In her first interaction with Maleeka, Miss Saunders directly compliments her skin, instilling confidence in her:

Maleeka, your skin is pretty. Like a blue-black sky after it's rained ... (Chapter 1)

This establishes a foundation of love and acceptance, and it is Miss Saunders's steadfast encouragement that ultimately instills change in Maleeka.

Miss Saunders also adorns herself with lavish clothes and accessories (for example, her Gucci watch), which externally endorses the message of self-love and success. These clothing choices show that she believes she deserves nice things, embraces the way she stands out, and refuses to hide her shine. This concept is figuratively presented in this quote:

"Liking myself didn’t come overnight," she says, "I took a lot of wrong turns to find out who I really was ... Some kids even go up to her face and stare and point. She lets them do it too, like she’s proud of her face or something." (Chapter 4)

In conclusion, Miss Saunders reveals herself to be confident and self-assured, loving, truthful, forgiving, proud, and inspiring yet tough.

What does Miss Saunders's face reveal about her in The Skin I'm In?

For much of the story, Maleeka really hates her new English teacher Miss Saunders. For one thing, she has a real attitude problem—look who's talking—and always seems to be on Maleeka's case about something or other.

For good measure, she has a facial skin disorder, which Maleeka says looks like a giant white stain, as if someone had thrown acid on her face. It's ironic indeed that someone with such low self-esteem regarding her own skin color should adopt such a shallow attitude toward someone simply because they have a skin disorder.

In a classroom exercise, Miss Saunders instructs her students to write a paper on the question, "What does your face say to the world?" Judging by her prejudicial attitude towards Miss Saunders, Maleeka would probably say that her English teacher's face says to the world that she's a very unpleasant person. Not only that, but it says that she's a freak, and this is exactly what Maleeka says to Miss Saunders in class.

Not surprisingly, this isn't true. Miss Saunders is actually a fine, decent woman, and a pretty good teacher to boot. What seems to be happening here is that Maleeka's projecting her numerous insecurities over her skin color onto Miss Saunders as a way of dealing with them.