by Alicia D. Williams
A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book / Atheneum, 2019
364 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6580-9
Ages 11-14
Genesis’s family gets a deal on a rental in a suburb outside Detroit through a coworker of her dad’s. She loves the house but doesn’t know how long they’ll be able to stay given her dad’s history of gambling and losing the rent in his effort to get ahead: They’ve been evicted four times. At her new, predominantly white middle school, Genesis is wary that not even the Black kids will be nice given the darkness of her skin—she’s been called names like “Charcoal” in the past. Even Genesis’s dad, dark-skinned like she is, has made clear when he drinks that he wishes Genesis was light-skinned like her mother, a rejection that’s searing. Genesis finds release in singing, and the African American choir teacher tells Genesis she has a gift. But putting that gift on display in front of the entire school? Genesis, whose lack of self-worth is itemized in her ongoing list of all the things she hates about herself, can’t image doing so, until doing so becomes the only way she can see to move forward. An unflinching, candid exploration of the pain and impact of colorism on an African American family builds to a moment of triumph, and hope for healing and change for both Genesis and her family. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
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