add things to the box to continue to feel connected to her black heritage now that her family is gone. This includes a strand of hair that she takes from Samantha, another multiracial girl she meets. Invisibility & Disappearing There are several instances of Birdie confronting her invisibility and disappearance in various social spheres: with Carmen, the students at Nkrumah, Nicholas, students at the local public school in New Hampshire, and most approximately, with her own mother and father. The first line of the novel, "A long time ago I disappeared ..." foreshadows this element. Usually, this disappearing is accompanied by some kind of contrasting reappearance, as is the case when Birdie and her mother disappear from their home in Boston after Sandy speculates they are being pursued by the FBI, and reappear in New Hampshire as the Jewish mother-daughter duo, Jesse (Jess) Goldman and Sheila Goldman, respectively. Other characters also experience this phenomenon. For instance, when free-spirited Aunt Dot disappears to India and reappears some years later slightly changed, and the mother of a four-year girl named Taj. Or when Birdie's father and sister disappear to Brazil and reappear in San Francisco. Birdie also faces instances of invisibility—particularly in her relationship with her father who seems to prefer her older and darker sister, Cole. Deck's girlfriend, Carmen, also demonstrates this preferred upon meeting Birdie for the first time at dinner. Beauty Cole and Birdie encounter societal expectations of beauty throughout their youth. At Nkrumah, Cole is made fun of for her dry knees in gym class, appearing "ashy" to the other African American students. Sandy attempts to take care of Cole's hair by braiding it herself, ultimately failing. Eventually, Deck pays for Cole to go to a black hair salon, making her "splendid, ladylike, [and] suddenly in a whole new league." When Birdie is in New Hampshire, she has to learn how to dress and put on make up like the other white girls in her school. Beauty in Caucasia is closely connected to the identities of the characters and their culture. When Birdie and Cole learn about lotion, Birdie claims that she feels like she is a part of a secret club, meaning black culture. Cole's nappy hair is looked down upon by her peers, because Cole neglects the beauty expectations of those in the black community. When Birdie starts to dress and mimic the white girls in