If you dig a hole to China…..

In this YA novel, an African American girl faces the taunts and teases of her peers everyday due to the dark pigmentation of her skin.  She really has a hard time fitting in, making friends, and just basically surviving her 7th grade year, until a teacher comes along and changes her life.  She has many conflicts with the teacher, one in which she burns down part of the classroom!!  The teacher never stops believing in her and shows her that honesty and trust conquer all.  The main character learns to love the skin she’s in by the end of the book!!!

This book is so great!  It tells the story, via parallel stories in alternating chapters, of Hollis who is left as an orphan in Hollis Woods, Queens, just a couple days after her birth.  She is placed in foster family homes, but runs away every time she gets close to the family and close to being adopted.  The agency continues to place her in various homes, and she tells the story of her life via flashbacks and vivid descriptions of artwork she has drawn while in foster care.  Great read!!

In this YA novel, Bethany finds out that she has been cloned from the cells of her deceased sister.  Her mother and father kept this from her for 13 years, and she only realizes it as her life starts spinning out of control.  This is a great read, and adolescent readers with enjoy the twisting plot that keeps you guessing!