One similarity between Starr's life and that of the author is the fact that they both grew up in the ghetto and went to a white school. An example from the book that shows this is Starr going to Garden Heights where she has to listen to different kinds of music and behave differently. This is in line with the author's statement "I left home listening to Tupac and got to school while listening to the Jonas Brothers". Thus, Starr is indeed a parallel of the author's experiences.