Interest Level: 3-6

Have you ever felt like you don't belong or fit in? Makeda feels like this almost everywhere she goes - at home, at school, at the mall, at a restaurant - everywhere. This is because Makeda is adopted. Her parents and older sister are white so everywhere they go she gets stared at. Her only solace is her best friend, Lena, and this is because she is adopted also. Makeda and Lena used to do everything together before Makeda's family moved from Maryland to New Mexico. Now Makeda feels even more alone and isolated. At home things are not good. Her older sister makes friends right away and even gets a job. She doesn't have time for Makeda anymore. Her dad has left for a three month concert tour out of the country so that just leaves Makeda and her mother at home. Makeda never knows if it is going to be a good day or a bad day with her mother so most days she just stays clear of her. School is not so good either. Makeda just doesn't fit in and when a child makes some very ugly, racist remarks to Makeda her mom flips out and pulls her and her sister out of school to be homeschool. This means even more isolation for Makeda. Once again, her only solace is Lena, but now that it is summer Lena is busy with her gymnastic competitions and even she doesn't have time for Makeda. One day when Makeda's mom takes her and her sister on a spur of the moment vacation, Makeda begins to think everything will be alright. Her mom is in a good mood, maybe too good of a mood. She takes the girls shopping and spends way too much money, but Makeda doesn't care because she finally has her mom and sister's attention. However, this good feeling doesn't last very long when Makeda's mom starts to spiral out of control. An ambulance is called, Makeda and her sister have to go to their aunt's house, and their dad has to leave the tour early to come home. Makeda's sister is so mad that she lashes out at everyone and even refuses to speak to Makeda. Will Makeda's life every stop spinning out of control? Will the decisions that her mom made change her life forever? Will Makeda every feel like she fits in with her family and her new home? Read this new 2019 book to find out if Makeda ever finds her own self amid chaos.

This book is absolutely amazing! It will take you through almost every emotion imaginable. Mariama J. Lockington does a fantastic job of pulling the reader into Makeda's life and feeling her heartache, her happiness, her loneliness, and her desperate desire to fit in. She also does a great job of addressing when a parent has a mental illness called bipolar disorder. Do not miss this incredible book!!

As the parent of an adopted black daughter, I was looking for more insight into what her thoughts would be growing up with white parents. The mother's mental health issues took over the book when they easily could have been their own complete story.

Flash back to middle school. Do you remember how at least once a day, you wondered how and if you fit in with everyone else? Do you remember all those complicated feelings of excitement mingled with terror, sure that everyone was constantly looking at you? Middle School readers will identify with Keda. Keda is a middle school student with the issues that face most middle school students, except she also struggles to reconcile her racial identity with her family life. Keda is African-American, but she was adopted as a baby by a white family. Compounding racial questions, Keda must face a move and a parent dealing with mental illness. All in all, these struggles could come across as heavy, but Mariama Lockington strikes the perfect balance and establishes an immediate sense of familiarity with this character. I couldn't put this book down, and I think middle-grade readers will have the same reaction. Engrossing with lots to talk about afterward. Don't miss this one!

Keda, 11, a black girl adopted into a white family, never quite feels at home. She loves her parents and older sister, but there is a part of her that always feels like an outsider. As the story opens, she is leaving Baltimore and her best friend, also a black girl adopted by a white family, behind. The family moves to New Mexico for her dad's job in an orchestra. As the story unfolds, we learn that something is also wrong with Mama, which adds to the tension and also to Keda's anxiety. Keda struggles to make new friends, especially when there is always someone ready to make hateful comments to her. This story deals with issues of mental illness, adoption, and racism through the eyes of an 11-year-old, and is told with sensitivity and compassion.

I loved this book and will definitely recommend it to my middle school students.

For Blacks Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington

Mariama J. Lockington has created a meaningful read for girls in middle grades who have been adopted by a white family. Her encounters with the predominant race are realistic and speak to the issues Black Girls have in the current generation in our society. It shows that even in the 21st century the attitudes towards people in America who are not of different cultures are treated differently and made to feel as though they do not belong here. Ms. Lockington shines a bright light on issues of mental illness and how families should be aware of signs in order to offer support and compassion.
For Black Girls Like Me lends itself to many fruitful discussions.

A beautiful book about adoption, identity, and family. Keda is an African American girl who was adopted by a white family with a bio- daughter. When the family moves to another state, Keda must leave her best friend and all that is familiar to her. This book addresses the issue of racism and mental illness, and what it is like to be adopted. The story brings up the question of what is family?. I have two adopted children who are not white and my daughters and I have had so many discussions around these same topics. I found this book extremely engaging and will definitely have a copy in my 4th-grade classroom. (Be aware before referring this book to students that, there is an attempted suicide at the end of the story.).

What an amazing book. The portrayal of Keda’s mother’s mental health issues was handled so beautifully. I loved everything about this honest, insightful, and emotional book. I look forward to putting this in the hands of many readers.

Makeda is adopted, and her musician parents and older sister, Eva, are white. This has always been a problem on many levels. People don't know what to think when they see a black girl with a white mother, and make rude comments about it. Also, her mother, despite all of her talk about understanding Keda's cultural background, doesn't know enough to do Keda's hair properly or get her the right sort of lotion for her dry skin. This might be because her mother is struggling with issues of her own. When the family moves for the father's job (he plays with an orchestra), it is a hard transition for everyone. Her mother doesn't have a position of her own, and refuses to practice or to take on students, even though she occasionally throws herself into projects with enthusiasm. After a bad experience in their new school, the girls are pulled out by their mother and homeschooled. Keda does enjoy the homeschool community they join for additional lessons, activities, and socialization, but is increasingly worried about her mother's erratic behavior. When their father must travel out of the country for work, their mother takes them on a trip to Colorado where her behavior worsens and leads to a very intense situation. Luckily, their aunt steps in, and the family is finally able to struggle through getting the help they need.

Strengths: This is an interesting discussion of transracial adoption, and is an #ownvoices book. Keda's struggles are related in a detailed way, and her sadness is palpable. Her mother's increasing mental illness is also well described, and it's good that help finally comes. The depiction of microagressions (as well as larger ones) that Keda has to deal with because of her family is also sad but realistic.
Weaknesses: So many of my students come from families with mixed races that I wish this had included a few instances of more positive racial relations. I know that this is a difficult balance to strike.

For Black Girls Like Me is a great middle grade novel. I loved the inclusion of song lyrics and letters to Keda's best friend Lena. Ms. Lockington's descriptive language was a delight to read and helped bring Keda, her emotions, and the New Mexico landscape into focus. This book will spark some great discussions about racism even from those who don't intend harm, but it it not just a book about racism. Keda and her family also have to deal with mental illness and its affects on the entire family. Many readers will find connections to the experiences that Keda goes through not just because of the color of her skin or her mother's illness, but also in navigating a new school and making friends. Thank you to the publisher and #NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I thought it was absolutely an incredible read. I devoured it. It is a must for any library. 5 stars from me!

Oh boy did I love this book!!!

Reason 1: I have students that will see so many mirrors of their own lives in Keda’s life in their own (black, smart, adopted, parents that don’t look like her, mental illness in the family, love of music/singing, being the new kid, being called an offensive name...)

Reason 2: I loved the mix of chapters written in prose with chapters written in verse or song lyrics. Although I do enjoy novels written entirely in verse, I feel like they often tend to fall flat when you consider the poems individually—more often than not it feels to me like authors of novels in verse took the easy way out and just wrote short chapters spaced out over more pages rather than poetry. Because Lockington scattered Keda’s poems and songs lyrics throughout the book, I felt like she really focused on making each one shine with the word choice and figurative language.

Reason 3: Keda’s relationships rang true for me—especially her relationships with her best friend and her sister. Both were complicated and layered in exactly the ways you’d expect for an eleven year old girl.

Needless to say, I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this for my students to read.

I loved this book. The story was beautifully written and so well told. Keda's story was compelling and the situations felt very true. I would recommend this to any middle grade reader, whether adopted or not, because it completely nails that feeling of not quite fitting in your home and in your world. It was a lovely, lovely book.

This middle grade novel touches on many topics that children will be able to relate to and have powerful conversations about. Lockington's writing is beautiful, and it depicts how Keda struggles with so many issues in her life in a realistic, complicated way. Readers will love the short chapters and the different writing formats throughout.

This book is so important. There are so many kids who can benefit from reading a book like this.

The book centers on Keda, a 6th grader who is black and adopted into a white family. Her sister is the biological daughter of her parents, and in high school. The family recently moved from Baltimore to New Mexico for her dad's new job with an orchestra, and her mom is struggling with the transition. This book touches on so many family dynamics- changing relationships between siblings, parental tension, racial differences in the family.

I could relate a lot to Keda's situation- I was also adopted into a family of a different race than mine, and this book verbalized so many things I wish i had been able to read/think at her age. My situation is different in that I can pass more easily as the race of my family whereas Keda cannot, but things like struggling with identity and even something that seems so small as styling hair of a different texture than your own are so important.

I would definitely recommend this book to the middle schooler's I work with, but it does have some heavier content to it so be aware of that going in.

I feel this novel will speak to minority children who live in majority white families. It speaks of the struggle to find themselves socially, and the lack of cultural awareness parents can sometimes have when it comes to differences that they have with their children. However, I feel making the book largely about the mother's mental illness undercuts this message.

As a foster mom and educator, I cannot tell you how rare it is to find a book that represents young adoptees so well. This book is beautifully written and tackles so many important topics (mental health, racism, adoption, mixed families, cultural identity) that are not always present in MG books. A favorite for sure.

Eleven-year-old Keda has a lot on her plate. Her family just moved hundreds of miles for her dad's job. This tears her away from her best friend Lena, the only other black girl adopted by a white family Keda has ever known. The kids at her new school range from apathetic to cruel. And Keda's mom is dealing with the move even worse than Keda is. To help her cope, Keda relies on a spirited correspondence with Lena, the soulful songs of Billie Holiday, and the music that pours out of her own heart. Beautifully and movingly tackles many heavy issues.

Honest writing in its rawest form as the author describes her main characters search of what it means to be a black girl like her. The author gives an authentic story of growing up with a family that doesn’t look like you and having to deal with the stares of everyone in the quest to figure out how your identify fits in wit the status quo. Not only does the author write a story that contains raw dialogue
, it also is difficult to read at times because of its honesty in the racism the main chapter experiences being black in an all white family in a new town where no one else resembles her.
I think this story should be read by all and I’m glad I got to read it first so I can recommend it for purchase for our school library.

What a moving and engaging book! Keda is a sympathetic and relatable character that will grab the heart of many readers. Students previously unrepresented in children’s literature will see themselves in Lockington’s story of a black adoptee being raised by white parents. Highly recommended!

I *really* enjoyed reading this debut novel. It’s a quick and mostly easy read, but has more depth than I originally thought it would (from reading the description). I don’t want to spoil it for readers, so I’ll just say I didn’t anticipate the difficult life situation that Keda ended up facing before starting the book. I think that part of the story is one that will pair well with those looking to discuss mental health with middle grade students. I certainly could have used this a few years ago with some high school students.

I appreciate this book for opening my eyes to see the unexpected experiences of transracial adoptees. This coming of age story has appeal to different types of readers for sure, with Lockington’s blend of prose, Tumbler posts, and lyrics/poems. This book and Keda are special for sure.