Title: Betsey Brown
First published: 1985
Description: Praised as "exuberantly engaging" by the Los Angeles Times and a "beautiful, beautiful piece of writing" by the Houston Post, acclaimed artist Ntozake Shange brings to life the story of a young girl's awakening amidst her country's seismic growing pains. Set in St. Louis in 1957, the year of the Little Rock Nine, Shange’s story reveals the prismatic effect of racism on an American child and her family. Seamlessly woven into this masterful portrait of an extended family is the story of Betsey's adolescence, the rush of first romance, and the sobering responsibilities of approaching adulthood.
Subjects: African American families, African American teenage girls, African Americans, Busing for school integration, Fiction, Teenage girls, Reading Level-Grade 11, Reading Level-Grade 12, Fiction, general, Missouri, fiction, Saint louis (mo.), fiction
Places: Saint Louis (Mo.)