Sixth grader Ella is the only African American kid in her class at a school in a community outside Las Vegas. Her face is patches of dark and light, hence the cruel nickname Camo-Face and her unwillingness to believe she could be beautiful. But her status as an outsider is due to the fact that she has stood steadfastly by her best friend, a boy she calls Z, whose behavior is odd and unsettling to other kids. Then Bailey arrives at her school. Also Black, he immediately fits in among the cool kids, yet he chooses to be Ella’s friend, too. Spending time with Bailey and later with other kids jeopardizes Ella’s friendship with Z. She’s conflicted—she doesn’t want to abandon Z but finds him challenging to be with. At the same time, she’s unwilling to acknowledge just how far removed from reality he has become; his mind seems trapped in the fantasy world the two of them once created for fun. An over-the-top climactic trip to Las Vegas doesn’t detract from the strengths of Kekla Magoon’s novel, which offers terrific characterizations and an original, nuanced exploration of racial identify and self-esteem. Magoon also sensitively explores mental illness and the pain of loss—in one way or another, all three children are mourning the absence of their fathers—in a novel that sees Ella beginning to embrace a new understanding of herself as someone who is, indeed, beautiful. (Ages 10–13)

A biracial student questions her identity in this contemporary novel from the author of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award–winning The Rock and the River.

Ella and Z have been friends forever, both of them middle school outsiders in their Las Vegas suburb. Ella is the only black girl in her grade and gets teased for the mottled colors of her face. (Her deceased father was white.) Z is the classic “weird kid” who maintains an elaborate—and public—fantasy life, starring himself as a brave knight.

Though Z is content with his imagined world, Ella wishes for a larger group of friends, so she’s thrilled when Bailey, another black kid, arrives at their school. He’s popular and wants to befriend Ella—but to join the cool crowd, Ella would have to ditch Z. Does she stay loyal to the boy who has been her best and only friend for years, or jump at the chance to realize her dream of popularity?

Author Kekla Magoon deftly navigates the muddy waters of racial and cultural identities in this contemporary exploration of one girl’s attempt to find herself.