I’m delighted to announce my middle-grade novel, Radiant, coming from Dutton Children’s Books January 7th, 2025.  It’s exciting to be teamed once again with Andrew Karre, my brilliant editor for both No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux,, Harlem Bookseller, and The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth and Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore.

I had a wonderful, challenging time crafting my first novel in verse.  Although it is fiction, the story contains some of my memories of a simpler, yet complex, time.  And I couldn’t be happier with the “fab” cover art by Erin Robinson.

Here’s what my publisher says:

As school begins in 1963, Cooper Dale wrestles with what it means to “shine” for a black girl in a predominantly white community near Pittsburgh.  Cooper’s main concern is navigating fifth grade, where she faces both an extra-strict teacher and the bullying of Wade Carter, the only child of a well-to-do white family, whose home Cooper’s mother cleans for extra income.  How can she shine when her mother works for the meanest boy in school?  To make matters worse, Cooper quietly wishes she could be someone else.

It’s not all gloom for Cooper, though.  She and her teenage sister have fallen for the Beatles, and not only is Cooper thrilled to have something special they can share, but her British idols help her figure out how to be her radiant self.

Set against the historical backdrop of the Birmingham church bombing, the Kennedy assassination, and Beatlemania, Radiant is a finely crafted novel about race, class, faith, and finding your place in a loving family and a complicated world.

I can’t wait!  Hope you all like it!