Best Book Publishers UK | Austin Macauley Publishers
Brown Girl-bookcover

By: Leilani Taneus-Miller

Brown Girl

Pages: 226 Ratings: 5.0
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Shelly Nacre is the brown face in a sea of white, washed up on the rocky shores of Long Island. Life changes suddenly when tragedy befalls her family, leaving Shelly to make sense of what has happened in the only way she knows how. Her father, an armchair activist, feeds her plenty by way of philosophical ruminations, but these words do not anchor her. Shelly must breeze carefree into her daydreams and drift into the realms of the past to visit her ancestors.

And somewhere between these worlds there is Dolly, who never fails in giving her comfort and advice.

But when Shelly tries to befriend two of her teenage classmates in a neighbourhood where prejudice is deeply rooted, she brings about havoc on a mystical level, making waves much too big for Long Island in the 1980s.




This book is not about me.

Yet I lived through the same time and in the same place.

So some of the things that happen to Shelly have happened to me, And others like me.

I was born in the city but moved to a small town.

We became the first blacks in our neighbourhood.

And then of course, like Shelly, I was the only black kid in my class.

Brushing racism aside was the done thing.

As good “negroes” we knew our places as second-class citizens.

 ‘Work harder, expect less,’ we were told.

‘Just pretend that didn’t happen,’ we were told.

Lucky for you, dear reader, I remember enough of what happened to write Shelly’s story.


Customer Reviews
5.0
4 reviews
4 reviews
  • Anya

    The book is amazing! I was lucky enough to get a copy from the author and it’s such a good read would 100% recommend it.

  • AMÈRE LIBERE

    A book of complexities. A heart wrenching examination of racial injustices and the harm it does to humanity as a whole. And a heart warming depiction of the impressionable childhood innocence.
    Beautifully written.

  • DÉSIRÉE FRANCK

    A brilliant unnerving account, seen through the eyes of an unusual teen whose sense of identity is marred by rejection due to her blackness. Although, anyone who has experienced bullying can relate.

    Lyrical prose, at times hallucinatory, takes you through the bewildering relationship with her father, fixation with her mother and dependency on her plastic doll. Not to mention her frequent mystical flashbacks to her ancestors.

    In the many disturbing scenes, you feel sorry for her and contempt for her aggressors, and others times you can’t but laugh or cry at the vivid depictions of her life.

  • Anya laurier

    This book is amazing! I was lucky enough to receive a copy from the author and I would 100% recommend reading, she’s such a talented writer! ❤️

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