As a teenager, the author lived in two worlds: (1) the traditional Bengali heritage inside their home; and (2) the contemporary California of her suburban peers. Sometimes the gap between those two worlds seemed huge. She trudged back and forth between cultures, relying heavily on stories for insight into the secrets and nuances of North American life. In this article, the author presents five questions that'll help in discerning messages about race in stories. These are: (1) Are the nonwhite characters too good to be true?; (2) How and why does the author define race?; (3) Is the cover art true to the story?; (4) Who are the change agents?; and (5) How is beauty defined? The author suggests trying these in the classroom to engage teens who had seemed reluctant to share their literary opinions.