But no one, not even Tasha-whose mama’s car was repossessed in the middle of the night just the other week!-says a peep. I search their faces, hoping at least one of them will stick up for me. “Nobody’s getting through that door besides the landlord,” Angela jabs. They all swivel their heads at the same time and mutter, “Danggggg.” “Not with that big ol’ metal thing covering the doorknob, you ain’t.” “I forgot, my mama said we were getting new furniture.”Īngela raises an eyebrow. They’re whispering and pointing, and my family’s STUFF IS SITTING IN THE YARD! “You know what?” I finally come up with. Now I understand what Grandma means when she says, “There’s always one.” Regina snorts, “Hey, y’all, Genesis gotta pee outside!” Then she throws back her head and bursts out laughing.
#THE BLUEST EYE PAGE COUNT WINDOWS#
“I saw her go in this one the other day.” “This one” is a small brick house with peeling green trim, chipped up cement steps, and straight metal bars on the door and windows like a prison. Didn’t he know today was epic for me? “I live over there,” I say, pointing to a house where the metal bars on the security door swirl in an elegant design. “This your house?” Regina says, flicking her long braids. Even our beds are still made with the blankets and pillows. The kitchen chairs are properly placed with the dining table. Our glass living room table sits in front of the couch with a cocktail table on each side. All our furniture sits in the front yard-but this time it’s laid out exactly like it had been inside the house, as if the movers are playing a cruel joke. Then, we’ll drink Sprite and eat the chips that Mama went out to buy especially for us.īut as soon as we round the corner of my block, my heart skips like a scratched CD. And in my mind, we’re all sitting on the couch debating which rapper is the finest. Regina’s going on about her plans for us to watch music videos, ’cause Tasha’s crushing on some new hot singer. And don’t you know-Regina uses my line as a jump off, cracking, “And y’all ain’t ’bout to taste none of us either!” We all slap hands and keep it moving. I’m so amped that I actually yell this to the guys. Regardless, they’re grinning like we’re all a bag of M&M’s. Boys jockin’ us-well, actually jockin’ them. Even though I couldn’t determine the correct term of equality in math, shanked the nearly airless volleyball in PE, and truly didn’t care to discuss the effects of the Civil War in social studies, I was unshook, ’cause today my girls finally agreed to hang out with me-at my house!Īnd with Regina to my right cracking jokes, Fatima and Tasha and Angela to my left laughing insanely loud, shoot, every eye is on us. Nobody could tell me that today wasn’t gon’ be my day. 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. 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. Because she wasn’t born looking like Mama. Because Genesis knows this is all her fault. Because her family is always being put out of their house. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list: There are ninety-six reasons why thirteen-year-old Genesis dislikes herself. This deeply sensitive and “compelling” ( BCCB) debut novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself. Draper, author of the New York Times bestseller Out of My Mind “An emotional, painful, yet still hopeful adolescent journey…one that needed telling.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“One of the best books I have ever read…will live in the hearts of readers for the rest of their lives.” -Colby Sharp, founder of Nerdy Book Club “Reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.” - The New York Times
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