What an amazing book! Mixing in a mystery with friendships, new kids and ones that have been around their entire lives. Brandy Colbert writes characters that we all know and challenges us to learn and grow. A fabulous story that will be a hot item in any classroom/school library.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It read quickly and kept you turning pages.
The story takes place in a little town in California. There is a family that when the story starts are the only black family and then across the start a new black family moves in. The new family is only a mom and daughter. The other family is a daughter and her two dads. They become friends even though they are nothing a like. Alberta is from the other family that has live in the town since she can remember and Edie is from New York and dealing with the divorce of her parents. Al loves to surf and her best friend is going through some issues and so she starts to hang out with Edie which she is excited about. Edie misses her dad and is learning how to deal with this loss. Edie finds some old journals in the attic of her new home and she invites Al over to read them. There is a mystery about these journals. What is in the journals and what is the mystery about them? You have to read the book to find out.
I had a blast reading this book and gave it 5 stars. I highly recommend that you read it.

Thank you NetGalley, Libro.fm, and Little Brown Books for the eARC and an audiobook of this wonderful story. There was history, mystery, multiple writing style (letters and narrative), and strong character development. This will be one of the books I recommend the most to my middle schoolers because it touches on so many important topics and relatable topics.

Alberta is real and relatable. She is sporty in an unexpected way, innocent in a believable one and confused about the changes happening to her body and her social groups. Edie is torn between two homes and two parents, but knows who she is as a person. When these two team up to solve an historical mystery, you can't help but root for them both.

This book was just okay to me. I found at certain points that I wanted to skip parts because it did not keep my attention. Alberta is the only black girl on Ewing Island until Edie moves in across the street. They become fast friends even though they are as different as night and day. Edie finds a book of journals and an they bond over reading them and trying to find to who they belong to. This book was okay. I found that lot of parts could have been left out and at times it seemed as if the author just provided filler for the book.

This review is based on an ARC of The Only Black Girls in Town which I received courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher.

This book is perfect for your MG readers. I can't wait to share it with my 6th graders. The characters are extremely relatable and I know my students will be able to connect with them. Alberta, the main character, faces issues that many students at that age face. The themes of friendship, overcoming obstacles, bullying, and acceptance are beautifully interwoven between the pages. I loved the fact that this book contains a story within a story.The story of the mystery behind the journals is a great mystery within the story. I highly recommend you pick up a copy of this book.

Brandy Colbert writes MG and gets it right! Alberta lives with her dads in a beach town in California where she is one of few black kids in town. A a new black girl moves in across the street and they become fast friends. How does this affect her current best friend? And is it the only friend drama in 7th grade? Of course not.

I loved the different family structures portrayed here too, on top of the characters. Also, there is a mystery in some journals that Alberta’s new friend finds. Adults will probably guess what’s happening before the girls do but it definitely adds some interest to a story that is mainly about friendship, exploring how race impacts life and love and friendship as well

Alberta is the only black girl in her town. She is also a surfer. She has two dads. This story was so heartwarming. I love all the characters in the story. I can relate to some of the characters. This story was so unpredictable. I really enjoyed how Alberta was a good friend and met no stranger. Edie, her new friend, brought the story to life with the journals. Didn't expect what happened but I give this book five stars. I really really enjoyed this YA book.

I really loved this and I think it's a great book! Can't wait to read more books by Brandy Colbert and hope that others get to read this, too.

What a wonderful debut middle grade novel from Brandy Colbert! Alberta and Edie are characters almost any one could relate to. I appreciate this story's perspective on what it feels like to be a minority in a community and just want so desperately to find someone who looks like you and might experience the world in a different way because of that. The suspense behind the journals and the mystery keep the story moving forward. This is a quick read and is engaging throughout.

This story will especially appeal to readers looking for more black characters (especially main characters) in middle grade fiction, but also to those who are minorities in their own communities, neighborhoods, social groups, etc.

The publisher Little Brown Books for Kids generously provided me with a copy of the book upon request on NetGalley. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

Great book for the We Need Diverse Books movement! Brandy Colbert is a rising star in the middle grade/YA world, in my opinion.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC.
Although I did not finish this book before it was published, I am glad that I read it! Brandy Colbert's other book Little and Lion is what go me excited for The Only Black Girl in Town.
This book discusses topics of LGBTQ, race, changing friendships, finding their identity, and acceptance. These are topics that have not been discussed in a lot of middle grade novels that I have read. I think this book was a bold move toward discussing topics that people shy away from, regardless of age. I feel many of my students would be able to find a character or a feeling they relate to in this book. During the middle grades of school, students can experience so much change, and having a book that embraces those changes and discusses them is beneficial.

This book was so good. It really captured the feelings of being "one of the few" or "one of the only" ones as told through the thoughts, eyes, and voice of a twelve-year-old black girl. Parts of Alberta's story was my childhood and I loved that Ms. Colbert managed to keep that innocence about Alberta coupled with the angst that is every girl in the dusk of tweendom, where every fight with the BFF and first crushes are so dramatic and her loving surfing was so good. The best part of all was the mystery behind the journals. I hope the author can go back and tell that story. My interest was definitely piqued and I would read that one for sure. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the ARC,

Four Reasons Why You Should Read This Book on my Blog - https://thepagesleftunread.wordpress.com/2020/04/13/the-only-black-girls-in-town-brandy-colbert-review/

The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert is such an amazing and enjoyable book I think should be in every black girl’s hands, and it was a pleasant surprise for me. It's a wonderful ownvoices middle grade book that's a love letter to all black girls.

Summary: Alberta has long been the only black girl in her seventh grade class. It’s as much a part of who she is as having two dads and loving surfing. So when Edie and her mom buy the bed and breakfast across the street, Alberta is surprised to learn that they are black…and that Edie is just her age. The two become friends, causing a rift between Alberta and her best friend Laramie, who starts hanging out with the cool eighth graders. When Edie discovers some old journals in the attic of the B&B, she and Alberta get drawn into a mystery involving the identity of a young woman who moved to California in the 1950’s. What they discover about her ends up revealing the racism that has persisted in their town to the present day. Seventh grade is never easy, but Albert comes through the first half of it with a greater appreciation for her friends, family, and community. 369 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros: This was one of the most enjoyable middle grade novels I’ve read this year. The characters, middle school angst, and dialogue were spot on, and the mystery was a fun way to explore the past and how it influences the present.

Cons: I like it when there’s a little depth to the mean girl, but in this case, she seemed to just be a horrible person.

This book was pretty hard to get into. I did love the representation for people of color. Racial issues as well as history and friendship.

I really enjoyed this book. It is absolutely needed in children's literature. I love how it takes on the topic of race and being accepted. I think students need to see themselves and their lives reflected in books.

Reminiscent of New Kid and The Parker Inheritance, Brandy Colbert's latest novel for middle graders provides a look at the prejudice and microagressions faced by black people in the present and the 1950s. Protagonist Alberta is the only black girl in her grade in her California beach town and is thrilled when Edie, another black girl her age, moves in across the street. The two bond, in spite of their different personalities and interests, when they find 1950s-era diaries documenting events from the civil rights movement in Edie's basement. Colbert crafts an excellent, sympathetic narrative on race and blackness. She also tells a relatable, if not terribly original, narrative about middle-school friendship, fights, and concerns about popularity. The narrative's inclusion and promotion of gay parents and surrogacy will likely cause controversy among many readers/parents. Ages 10-14.

A black pre-teen surfer that's pretty good & a black gothic girl are characters I can appreciate. The themes of family, friendship and race relations makes for a worthwhile read.

The Only Black Girls in Town is a beautifully written middle grades book that deals with some pretty serious issues. Our narrator is a 12 year old girl on the precipice of puberty named Alberta. It is the summer before 7th grade and Alberta is excited that she that new neighbors are moving into the bed & breakfast across from her house. Alberta is living in Ewing Beach, California with her two dads. She loves surfing and is still negotiating how she feels about friendships, boys, and the fact that she is the only black girl in her entire grade level and one of only a few black kids in the entire town. That all changes when Edie moves across the street. Not only is she in the same grade, but she is also black. Alberta is excited to befriend Edie and the two become fast friends.
One of the themes in this book is racism. Alberta realizes talks about experiencing subtle racism. For example, when the "mean girl" Nicolette tells her that people are nice to her because she is different or when her own best friend Laramie tells Alberta that she blends in and she doesn't even think of her as being black. The book also involves much more overt racism that the girls read about in journals Edie found in the attic of the B&B. The journals are from the 1950's-1960's and are written by a black woman who lived through the period of segregation, prejudice, and even violence. These journals link Edie and Alberta in friendship and the two are determined to solve the mystery of who wrote the journals. One related topic in the story is the differences black people encounter depending on how light or dark their skin coloring is.
Another theme is obviously friendship, especially during adolescence. This is not always an easy time because there's significant changes going on with the body and the emotions that can accompany these changes. Our characters are all changing and they have to come to terms with their own feelings.
Overall, I felt this was an excellent book. I feel that it touches on the topic of casual racism very well. I definitely recommend it to students in middle grades. I think it could be the start of wonderful conversations and help people see other's perspectives.