University students in an Honors Literacies course read an African American realistic fiction novel, The Skin I’m In (Flake, The Skin I’m in, Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books, 1998), as a way to unpack social issues and create narratives for voices that are often overlooked. The text is selected because of its rich potential in fostering cross-cultural empathy. Life Histories illustrate the students’ ability to identify the intersection of gender, race, and class through authentic portrayals of characters quite different from themselves. Life Histories demonstrate the ways that first-year university students look at the world and view others and how critical inquiry can illuminate the human experience.