Marlee is painfully shy. She speaks to very few people outside her family. When a new girl, Liz, comes to her school, Marlee finds a friend that is everything she wishes she could be: brave, bold and always able to say the right thing. Then Liz suddenly leaves school without even a good-bye and the rumor is that Liz was trying to "pass" for white. Marlee decides that Liz's race doesn't matter to her. She just wants her friend back. In order to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are willing to take on segregation and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families.
Awards and Honors:
- New York Historical Society Children's Book Prize
- New York Public Library's 100 Books for Reading and Sharing (2012-2013)
- ALA Amelia Bloomer List, 2013
- Booklist Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth, 2012
- YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, 2013
If you are interested in learning more about school integration and race relations, try the following books available in the TAHS library:
Fiction
- Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley
- Thorpe by Mary Dutton
- The Girl From the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement by Teri Kanefield (921/Powell)
- Warriors Don't Cry: A searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High School by Melba Beals (921/Beals)