A powerful middle grade coming-of-age novel set in a slowly integrating upper middle class Los Angeles neighborhood in the summer of 1965, from a Coretta Scott King Honor Award-winning author. Perfect for fans of Rita Williams-Garcia and Sharon M. Draper. It’s 1965, Los Angeles. Sophie is the new black kid in a nearly all-white neighborhood; her beloved sister, Lily, is going away to college soon; and her parents’ marriage is rocky. Plus, there’s her family’s new, disapproving housekeeper to deal with. Then riots erupt in nearby Watts and a friend is unfairly arrested, and Sophie learns that life–and her own place in it–is even more complicated than she’d once thought.

Honest, witty … relatable. Unfairness and race-consciousness run through the story–so do surprises. Bigotry wears many guises. Kindness does too. –Wall Street Journal

Thoughtful and well-wrought … . Compassionate, pointed, and empowering. –Booklist, starred review

An impressive coming-of-age story. –Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Reveals how an impressionable and intelligent child learns from the injustices that touch her, her family, and her friends. –Publishers Weekly, starred review