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The Only Black Girls in Town  By  cover art

The Only Black Girls in Town

By: Brandy Colbert
Narrated by: Jeanette Illidge
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Publisher's summary

From award-winning YA author Brandy Colbert comes a debut middle-grade novel about the only two Black girls in town who discover a collection of hidden journals revealing shocking secrets of the past.

Beach-loving surfer Alberta has been the only Black girl in town for years. Alberta's best friend, Laramie, is the closest thing she has to a sister, but there are some things even Laramie can't understand. When the bed and breakfast across the street finds new owners, Alberta is ecstatic to learn the family is black—and they have a 12-year-old daughter just like her.

Alberta is positive she and the new girl, Edie, will be fast friends. But while Alberta loves being a California girl, Edie misses her native Brooklyn and finds it hard to adapt to small-town living.

When the girls discover a box of old journals in Edie's attic, they team up to figure out exactly who's behind them and why they got left behind. Soon they discover shocking and painful secrets of the past and learn that nothing is quite what it seems.

©2020 Brandy Colbert (P)2020 Little, Brown Young Readers

Critic reviews

"The Only Black Girls in Town is a tender, humorous, and suspenseful story about navigating the turbulent waters of middle school friendship. Alberta and Edie prove that Blackness is not a monolith and remind us that if you keep looking, there's always more to see and learn about the people and places we love. Colbert's middle grade debut is an unputdownable tale. Readers will want to hang out with Alberta and Edie long after the story ends."—Renée Watson, author of Some Places More Than Others

*"A heartfelt tale with classy, indelible characters."—Kirkus, starred review

"Exploring growing-up issues and historical secrets with empathy, insight, and grace, Colbert creates a stunning tale of family, friendship, and racial identity. An engaging, must read for everyone."—Jewell Parker Rhodes, bestselling author of Ghost Boys

What listeners say about The Only Black Girls in Town

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great listen

I am a very much grown up but my niece has this book so I wanted to get the audio so she can read along.
I actually have listened to this book more than her and I enjoyed it 100%.

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Great Listen!

I enjoyed this book. I think every black girl should listen to this book, especially since it talks about many challenges in life. This book discussed racism, bullies, the meaning of family, and much more. The narration was also very good. I would recommend this book!

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Great story with diverse charaters.

Really enjoyed this book. I loved the emphasis on family and culture. interesting charaters and variety of subjects included.

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I love the book so much and it is so beautiful too

love the book and lot and it so good too and fun .
love it

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loved it!

I loved this honest middle grades story! Fresh characters, beautiful setting, authentic, contemporary feel-a total winner! I'll hand it to my students, knowing that it will make them think about race and friendship and family in a little different way! Great book to start constructive dialogues about these subjects!

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So good!!!

This story was so addictive! I couldn’t stop listening to it. Great for kids and anyone that likes to be sucked into the book.

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