What We Saw

Scars Like Wings

Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots

Becoming Brianna: Emmie & Friends

Amina's Song: Amina's Voice

After Tupac and D Foster

Rainbow Boys

Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl

Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she’s in therapy. She can’t count the number of times she’s been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her “weird” outfits, and been told she’s not “really” black. Also, she’s spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there’s that, too.

Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat—and it’s telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself?

Life may be a never-ending hamster wheel of agony, but Morgan finds her crew of fellow outcasts, blasts music like there’s no tomorrow, discovers what being black means to her, and finally puts her mental health first. She decides that, no matter what, she will always be intense, ridiculous, passionate, and sometimes hilarious. After all, darkness doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Darkness is just real.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

What We Saw

Aaron Hartzler, Mary Downing Hahn, 2022

Scars Like Wings

Erin Stewart, 2019

Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots

Margarita Engle, Rudy Gutierrez, 2019

Becoming Brianna: Emmie & Friends

Terri Libenson, 2020

Amina's Song: Amina's Voice

Hena Khan, 2021

After Tupac and D Foster

Jacqueline Woodson, 2008

Rainbow Boys

Alex Sanchez, 2001

Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl

Carolita Blythe, 2013