This is a book I have had in my libraries for years (I actually just got a new copy for my new library), and I have just never gotten to reading it.

I enjoyed reading about these girls and their friendships. When someone new moves into town, it often disrupts friendships as people figure out how to make it work. Loved how these girls worked it out.

The Only Black Girls in Town is such a cute read! This book explores themes of friendship and social issues written so beautifully for middle grade children. I absolutely recommend!

The Only Black Girls In Town By Brandy Colbert is another great book! Brandy Colbert writes a wonderful story of two 12 year old girls and the adventure they have researching journals they discover by accident. Who wrote the journals? Where are they now? Read The Only Black Girls in Town By Brandy Colbert and find out for yourself!

This book explores a lot of topics. The title implies race might be the central topic however it is a part of the narrative not the sole topic. At the core, the book is about middle school relationships, the challenges of friendships, romantic interests and parental relationships. There is an element of mystery in the novel when the main characters, Edie and Alberta find old journals and investigate who was the journal writer.

I don’t read much fiction geared toward younger readers but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I will look for more titles by the author.

An eye opening story about shared history and friendship and an outstanding middle grade debut for Colbert.

Brandy Colbert is fast becoming a favorite writer and this doesn’t disappoint. The mystery held me but also the character development and friendships.

In an effort to read all the middle grades novels on my @netgalley shelf, I downloaded this from the library. I really enjoyed this! It is a book about friendship, growing up, divorce, gay dads, mean girls, and being one of the few black kids in an all-white town. Also? There is a mystery! This is #kidlit book that grownups will like - highly recommend checking it out!

A solid read. We have Black, LGBT family in a predominantly white neighborhood. Here's this girl who thinks she knows where she fits with her peers, though occasionally made uncomfortable when faced with microaggressions that she doesn't have the skills to address. The combination of the social awareness that comes in the middle school years and the introduction of another Black girl at school that forces her to confront these issues and see herself in a new way The mystery of the journals they find in the attic is the weakest part of the plot, relying on a lot of coincidence combined with some fairly obvious clues. Overall, its a subtler look at race relations and the changing face of racism than we usually see in middle grade fiction.

I'm not the biggest fan of MG contemporary novels, but this was a fantastic read! A Brandy Colbert book is always a wonderful read, and this was no exception. It was a wonderful story about friendship, heartfelt in its talk about race and fitting in, and overall just well written. I would highly suggest checking out some own voices reviews to hear more about the representation!

Saw the description and thought it looked interesting but didn’t realize it was middle grade, so the writing style wasn’t my thing. Would still recommend to others though!

Alberta: "They just... Nicolette says stuff sometimes. That's prejudiced. Or maybe..."

Edie: "Racist? She says it so plainly, it startles me. Sometimes that seems like a bad word. Like people are more afraid of being associated with it than actually not being it"

Living in a small beach town, Alberta had been the only black person in her grade, her social circle, and was more than aware of her family's minority status in town. Her best friend Laramie "got it," but also kind of didn't. Some around her, mainly her class nemesis and nearby neighbour Nicolette, display microaggression on the subject, while others display frustrating indifference to the intolerance. Then, a new family moves into the B&B on the block and suddenly Alberta isn't so alone anymore, thanks to same-age new friend Edie from Brooklyn.

While this brief description conveys a serious tone, The Only Black Girls in Town is a very fun, thought-provoking and addictive read. The character development of the main and side characters will have you imagining them vividly, even in your own circle or town, or who in the book would match who in your existing circle.

The subjects are in middle school, but this story is completely appropriate and approachable for both young adult and adult-aged readers.

Mix chapters on growing up, community race relations, surfing, friendships, having two dads, stories in a box of mysterious journals found in an attic, mean girl drama and ice cream and you have this wonderful read by Brandy Colbert. I can't wait to see what she writes next and will be looking into her back catalogue.

The Only Black Girls In Town is the middle-grade debut of one of my favorite YA authors. I found the book a bit long and socially heavy-handed, especially for the age group, but I think it will appeal to young readers.

In this middle grade novel, Brandy Colbert shows us a piece of suburban life not often explored from a first person point of view — that of a Black girl who has grown up in this environment. As a Black girl from the burbs, I found the perspective of 12-year-old Alberta familiar yet distinctly her own throughout the story.

cover - The Only Black Girls In Town
cover – The Only Black Girls In Town

Living in a small beach community in Southern California, Alberta has gone most of her life knowing the only other Black people in her community: her two dads, Kareem and Elliot, one guy in the grade above her, and a few kids in high school. While she’s mostly been fine with it, she often feels that her best friend, Laramie, may not be quite enough when it comes to understanding the tone and negativity being shot at her from resident mean girl Nicolette, and other peers. But then Edie, and her mother Calliope, move to the same street, literally adding color and understanding to Alberta’s life as Black former Brooklynites. Being the only other Black girl in seventh grade does not make the girls instant friends, especially with Edie being a goth and Alberta a surfer girl. However, there are more than enough growing pains between the two that lead them to becoming each other’s confidantes, and fast friends.

One, Alberta is very uncomfortable with the way all of the girls in her grade seem to be growing in ways her body has not quite caught up to yet. When you add this to the fact that her fathers think that she should wait until she’s 13 to enter surfing competitions, we can see that she needs some moral support through these trying times.

Two, Edie has moved to Ewing Beach with her mother, leaving her brother and father back in Brooklyn. Dealing with her parents divorce, including separation from half of her family and the city she loves, Edie brings a lot of emotional baggage with a new start in a community that is very different from the one she came from.

Three, despite all of the misgivings that Alberta has voiced with Laramie about how she’s treated by Nicolette, Laramie mysteriously decides that she’ll spend more time with Nicolette than she does with Alberta at the beginning of the school year, immediately after Edie moves to town.

This is a very intriguing set of circumstances that Alberta must face — and I haven’t even mentioned the mystery she and Edie uncover at the latter’s bed and breakfast, nor the entrance of Alberta’s birth mother into the story!

Colbert does a great job of placing us right into Alberta’s story just as life gets interesting for her circumstantially and at an age where everything seems to shape you for life. I enjoyed that I got to be taken back to how life felt when I was twelve even without having a character that aligned with my own interests at the age — Alberta is way more outdoorsy than I have ever been. I definitely recommend this book to people of any age, there are enough plot shifts and perspectives for this story to appeal to any fan of contemporary novels.

This is a really special book, and I have no idea how to properly review it. I think this will be a very important read for young Black readers, because it deals with race in so many different ways and in such a layered way. It deals with Black history, it deals with growing up Black in a predominantly white small town, it deals with microaggressions and how there are many different ways to be Black. And that's not even all of it.

It's honestly amazing to see how many themes this book dealt with without it ever feeling too much. This was my third Brandy Colbert book and she's for sure one of my favourite authors now. I really loved Alberta as a main character, and I found this a very wholesome read.

Alberta loves living in her small California town. She has a wonderfully supportive family, a great best friend, and a deep love of surfing. But that doesn't mean it has always been easy to be one of the only black people in her predominantly white town. So when Edie moves in across the street, Al is super excited to meet someone like her. But Edie, a black lipstick wearing, "goth" girl from Brooklyn, is not quite what anyone expected. Despite their initial differences, Al and Edie's friendship blooms, while everything else Al thought was great seems to shift around her. This book effortlessly navigates changing friendship dynamics and middle school crushes, all while weaving in important black history and characters that defy stereotypes. Fantastic story. Will absolutely purchase for my collection.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a great middle-grade read! Alberta is the only black person in her neighborhood (besides her two dads) until a new family moves in next door. Edie and Alberta become fast friends and discover some old journals holding secrets of the past. A lot of complex things were discussed in this story, but it never seemed over-the-top, forced, or unrealistic. Racism is addressed, though it’s not blatant, and it’s a great way to teach kids about microaggressions. I also loved that Al having two dads wasn’t made into a “thing” or learning lesson, it just was a normal thing that wasn’t questioned by anyone. Overall, a really great book I’d recommend to anyone.

Alberta is the only black girl in the 7th grade, until Edie moves into an old bed and breakfast across the street. Not only are they trying to navigate middle school and the changes that come with that but they also recently found some journals from the 1950s, signed by Constance. Alberta and Edie try to figure out who Constance was and what her giant secret is. This was a very timely read. Great for middle schoolers or anyone who wants to read about being the only black girls in a very white and sometimes racist town.

This was another great book by Brandy Colbert. I liked the set-up, and the relationships between the main character and her two friends.

The historical information about passing as white was intriguing, and I imagine students will want to research the issues. I felt the story line, characters, and situations raised were all believable.

It was an engaging, enjoyable, and interesting read.

I have read ever book that Brandy Colbert has written and this book is just as powerful as the others. I love that this book portrays two black kids who are different. Different interest, experiences, but bother relevant. I find many books about black characters are tell the same type of story, portraying black characters in one light. Once again Brandy has introduced us to a new cast of characters we wont soon forget.

I went into this book with high hopes. The title spoke to me because it would be an excellent recommendation for my “black girls” in class. Overall it just fell flat for me.