Fresh out of college, Shanika decides to apply to a prestigious New York City public relations firm. She is stunned when she is denied the job because she doesn’t fit the required racial quota because her skin is too light. With a mountain of student loans that needed to be paid off, she makes a drastic decision to change her name to Nicole Jensen and apply for a similar position as a Caucasian female. She lands the job and falls into the role of being "white".

Nicole immediately notices a difference in how she is treated by her colleagues and how her career seems to skyrocket. Her good fortune leads her to date one of her co-workers who has no idea about her African-American background. She fears that one day her lies will catch up with her. When that day comes, will she lose everything she worked so hard to obtain?

If ever a book should be considered for Oprah’s book of the month, it definitely should be Karen E. Quinones’ Passin’. This book is the perfect selection because it deals with a woman who is torn between two worlds. This is the type of book that book clubs thrive upon, for it presents an opportunity to discuss and analyze each riveting passage. Very highly recommended.