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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Colbert, Brandy

The Only Black Girls in Town

357 pp. | Little | March, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-0-316-45638-8 $16.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-316-45637-1
(2) 4-6 Since they moved there when she was two, rising seventh grader Alberta and her dads have been one of the few Black families in Ewing Beach, California. Her mean-girl neighbor, Nicolette, won't let her forget it. "It's just that you're, like, different." Her best friend Laramie doesn't consider it. "You're just you...I don't really think about you being black." When Edie and her mom move in across the street, Alberta is excited that there will be another Black girl her age in town, especially as her friendship with Laramie is being tested (by Nicolette). Edie discovers some old journals in her attic bedroom, and she and Alberta quickly become wrapped up in trying to figure out who the author, Constance, was and how her journals ended up there. Several chapters include Constance's journal entries, allowing readers to share in the mystery with Alberta and Edie. Alberta's authentic-sounding struggles with race, friendship, family, and belonging are very much a part of the middle-school experience. Many readers will easily relate to Alberta--and will enjoy the additional narrative layer of solving the mystery of Constance.
Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

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