Growing up in Philadelphia in 1975, 14-year-old Charmaine Upshaw is obsessed with justice. Unfortunately, she gets none of it in her life: not from her parents, who make her share a room with her tap-dancing brother Leo; not at school, where light-skinned, Barbie-doll-haired Dinah Coverdale steals all the boys’ attention and makes sure dark-skinned Charmaine knows it; and certainly not from Tracy John, her six-year-old cousin who’s taken over the family. When Charmaine is charged with babysitting her spoiled cousin after school, that’s the last straw–something’s gotta give. And when Charmaine cracks, she starts to see the world in a whole new light. Can Charmaine learn to love herself, her mahogany skin, and her attention-starved little cousin? Sometimes when everything falls apart, putting it back together can help you see the truth.

From the Hardcover edition.