After moving to an affluent suburb of Denver in 1975, ninth-grader Tiphanie, the only Black girl in her new high school, feels out of place until she befriends another outsider-Jackie Sue, whose "trailer trash" home life makes Tiphanie's problems seem like a walk in the park.
In October 1975, while most teens are worried about their Happy Days Halloween costumes, Tiphanie Jayne Baker has bigger problems. Her parents have just decided to uproot the family to the ritzy suburb of Brent Hills, Colorado, and now she's the only Black girl at a high school full of Barbies. But, the longer Tiphanie stays in her new neighborhood, the more her ties to her old community start to fray. Now that nowhere feels like home, exactly where does she belong?
"The story, with its accurate portrayal of the period and realistic depictions of friendships and family issues, is interesting and enjoyable. The well-developed characters confront their own stereotypes and perceptions of race, learning something about one another and about themselves."
School Library Journal
"A straightforward, welltold story with characters that ring true, and the bittersweet ending will remind readers that friendships sometimes come at a cost."
