Brandy Colbert
Author of Little & Lion
About the Author
Works by Brandy Colbert
Associated Works
Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America (2018) — Contributor — 137 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Springfield, Missouri, USA
- Places of residence
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Education
- Missouri State University (BA|Journalism)
- Occupations
- faculty
- Agent
- Tina Dubois (ICM Partners)
- Short biography
- Brandy Colbert is the award-winning author of several books for children and teens, including Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which was the winner of the 2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Nonfiction and a finalist for the American Library Association's Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award. Her other acclaimed books include Pointe, The Only Black Girls in Town, and Stonewall Book Award winner Little & Lion. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, and her short stories and essays have appeared in several critically acclaimed anthologies for young people. She is on faculty at Hamline University's MFA program in writing for children, and lives in Los Angeles.
Members
Reviews
Gr 3–7—Alberta was the only Black girl in town until Edie and her mom moved into the bed-and-breakfast down the
street. Though Edie and Alberta don't have much in common, their shared experience as Black girls, and a mystery
surrounding the journals found in Edie's attic, brings them together. This book bravely takes on conversations of
race and racism, with a cast of dynamic characters and a plethora of nontraditional family structures.
street. Though Edie and Alberta don't have much in common, their shared experience as Black girls, and a mystery
surrounding the journals found in Edie's attic, brings them together. This book bravely takes on conversations of
race and racism, with a cast of dynamic characters and a plethora of nontraditional family structures.
Very good exploration of adolescent friendship. 7th grader Alberta's connection with her best friend Laramie is disrupted when Laramie starts hanging out with a popular 8th-grade girl. At the same time, a new girl named Edie moves to their small town and Alberta finds that even though she and Edie don't have a lot in common (Edie is goth, Alberta a surfer) they bond over being the only Black girls in their grade.
Alberta has two dads and her birth mom comes to visit. This is woven into the story nicely. It's part of who Alberta is, but it's not the focus of the story.
Edie's parents are going through a divorce, which is the reason she moves with her mom from Brooklyn to California. This is also well integrated into the story.
Laramie is maturing faster than Edie (she gets her first period early in the book). It's understandable why Laramie would want to be friends with a popular older girl, even though the older girl is a bully.
There is a whole big subplot about a 1950s diary that Edie and Alberta read and investigate. This injects some history and mystery into the book. There are parallels between Constance the diarist and Alberta feeling isolated and different.
I was a little disappointed that Alberta was so perfect. Her only flaw is that she always orders the same ice cream. At the end of the book, when shefinally changes up her ice cream order , it felt a little hollow to me. She does change over the course of the book because her friendships change and that's the strength of the story.… (more)
Alberta has two dads and her birth mom comes to visit. This is woven into the story nicely. It's part of who Alberta is, but it's not the focus of the story.
Edie's parents are going through a divorce, which is the reason she moves with her mom from Brooklyn to California. This is also well integrated into the story.
Laramie is maturing faster than Edie (she gets her first period early in the book). It's understandable why Laramie would want to be friends with a popular older girl, even though the older girl is a bully.
There is a whole big subplot about a 1950s diary that Edie and Alberta read and investigate. This injects some history and mystery into the book. There are parallels between Constance the diarist and Alberta feeling isolated and different.
I was a little disappointed that Alberta was so perfect. Her only flaw is that she always orders the same ice cream. At the end of the book, when she
Excellent research on the Tulsa race massacre. First half of the book explains what leads up to the attitudes of whites against blacks. Second half describes the massacre from first person accounts. Quote by Ida B. Wells-Barnett, "the way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them." Timely! Don't miss the forward and afterward1 Many similarities now is our divisive country. Compares Trump to President Johnson and even mentions Josh Hawley (her home state representative.) Black birds in the sky were bullets and incendiary devices being thrown or shot from planes.… (more)
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Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 11
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 1,921
- Popularity
- #13,405
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 76
- ISBNs
- 88
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 1
When her estranged aunt Carlene returns to Chicago and moves into the family's apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home. Carlene is sweet, friendly, and open-minded -- she's also spent decades in and out of treatment facilities for addiction. As Birdie becomes closer to both Booker and Carlene, she yearns to spread her wings. But when long-buried secrets rise to the surface, everything she's known to be true is turned upside down.… (more)