For Black Girls Like Me

Everyone should be reading middle grade books for characters and stories like this.

Eleven-year-old Makeda is loved, but as a Black girl in an adoptive family of white people, she questions what it might be like to grow up in a family that looks like her. Lockington draws from her own experience as a transracial adoptee, and writes with lyrical accessibility and honest, meaningful depictions of mental health struggles within a family.

This coming-of-age story for the younger set reminds people of all ages that while love matters, it takes work every day to keep evolving, showing up for, and… show more.

This novel is about eleven-year-old Makeda, who is adopted and Black and her parents and big sister are White. Keda is a great character and I loved this coming of age story that touches on family and identity. Also, the writer is an adoptee and I’m always looking for more adoption stories written by adoptees.

"I am a girl but most days I feel like a question mark." The opening line of this gorgeously narrated novel sets the stage perfectly. Makeda, a Black girl adopted by White parents, moves with her family to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Keda can’t help but notice the physical differences between herself and her family, the stares she receives from others, and the constant question who do you belong to? Keda’s journey to find her voice gave me all the feels…worry, anger, joy, compassion, and sadness. Get a box of tissues ready before reading!