Genesis Begins Again

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade contemporary
• Originally Published: 2019
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 670L; grades 4-8
• Structure/Length: 33 chapters; approx. 400 pages; approx. 8 hours, 48 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Thirteen-year-old Genesis struggles with self-esteem because of her dark skin and her father’s wish that she had lighter skin like her mother. A group of popular girls makes her feel even worse about herself, but when she moves to a new school, she begins to make friends, develop her singing talent, and gain a deeper understanding of her father’s self-loathing and alcoholism.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Colorism; addiction; bullying

Alicia D. Williams, Author

• Bio: Born in 1970 in Detroit, Michigan; earned her BA in African American Studies at the University of Kentucky and her MFA from Hamline University; studied theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC; has done sketch and stand-up comedy and is an oral storyteller in the African American tradition; lives in North Carolina, where she is a teacher
• Other Works: Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston (2021); Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress (2021); The Talk (2022)
• Awards: Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature (2019); Newbery Honor Book (2020); Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent (2020); William C.