How does James McBride learn to come to terms with who he is as a person in The Color of Water?

is 's autobiographical story of growing up in an extraordinarily
non-traditional household. The entire book recounts his journey from confusion and disquiet
about who he is to a relative peace with his circumstances. Young James hasmany things in his
life which make him different from others, and many of them are puzzling to him because his
mother, Ruth, reveals next to nothing about her past. It is only as Ruth tells her story that
the questions in James's life get answered and he is able to, as your question says, "come
to terms with who he is as a person."

James is one of twelve children
and grows up in a chaotic household run primarily by his rather eccentric and...