14 Jan / Little White Lies by Brianna Baker and F. Bowman Hastie III [in Booklist]
Because she “can no longer idly sit by and consume the Little White Lies that [her] parents tell,” Coretta channels her frustration into a debut blog post about power, politics, mixed-race identity, Afros, and Rosa Parks. The blog goes viral, and Coretta’s 4.0, extracurriculars, college apps, and relationships begin to falter.
Desperate, she hires Karl, a social media wordsmith, as a ghostwriter, and the middle-aged white man pulls off impersonating an African American teenage girl. When the billionaire Skool twins give Coretta her own TV show, she and Karl are confronted with a challenge neither ever expected.
Written in alternating she-said-he-said chapters by comedian Brianna Baker and real-life ghostwriter F. Bowman Hastie III, this is an over-the-top, ripped-from-the-headlines morality tale sure to be in demand by media-savvy teens familiar with Bey and Kanye, #BlackTwitter and white privilege, after-school altruism, and scam laptop donations to Africa. Today’s brave new world demands more than just the three Rs; Baker and Hastie prove revenge and redemption are requirements, too.
Review: “Books for Youth,” Booklist, January 1, 2016
Readers: Young Adult
Published: 2016