Middle Grade/Young Adult
From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun
Thirteen-year-old Melanin Sun has a great life with his single mom. He feels like she’s the person he can tell anything to. His friends think she’s beautiful and tease Melanin about how they’d love to go on dates with her. Then one day, his mother brings a white woman named Kristin home. Melanin dislikes Kristin the minute he meets her and because of her, his life with his mother will never be the same again.
Where it takes place:
In the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York.
Where I wrote it:
In Provincetown, Massachusetts and in California’s Napa Valley.
Why I wrote it:
This was the first time I wrote from the point of view of a boy. I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could actually do it. I also wanted to write about different kinds of love and different kinds of families because I hadn’t seen many books written about what Melanin goes through. Just like with If You Come Softly, I wanted to say that it’s important to love who you want as long as you’re happy.
Awards
- Coretta Scott King Honor
