6
Genesis Begins Again

Alicia D. Williams

Published In 2020

Grade Level #5-6 #6-8

There are ninety-six reasons why thirteen-year-old Genesis dislikes herself. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list:
-Because her family is always being put out of their house.
-Because her dad has a gambling problem. And maybe a drinking problem too.
-Because Genesis knows this is all her fault.
-Because she wasn’t born looking like Mama.
-Because she is too black.

Genesis is determined to fix her family, and she’s willing to try anything to do so…even if it means harming herself in the process. But when Genesis starts to find a thing or two she actually likes about herself, she discovers that changing her own attitude is the first step in helping change others.  Simon & Schuster

33
One Crazy Summer

Rita Williams Garcia

Published In 2010

Grade Level #5-6

Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. And even though Delphine must look after her sisters during a summer trip to California to visit Cecile. When they arrive on the West Coast, their mother decides that they will attend a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, the three sisters learn much about their family, their country, and themselves. Scholastic

 Newbery Honor novel
Coretta Scott King Award winner 
Scott O'Dell Award winner for Historical Fiction

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