James Guilford

The Pencil Test James Guilford

Kendry wants a life as hearty and remarkable as the lives of the black girls... Kendry wants to smoke marijuana and be bold enough to announce it on a crowded train. Kendry wants the black girls' struggles, their tragedies, and their poverty and resilience. Kendry wants to stand among them and complain sassily about her mother. Most of all, Kendry wants to be their friend. Kendry wants to belong.

As the daughter of a drug-addict and a victim of school bullying, Kendry Clare longs for a better life. Her mother's financial ruin provides Kendry with just this opportunity. On her first day at Paul Lawrence Dunbar, an all-black high school, Kendry tells a reckless lie that initiates a chain of events that catapults her into popularity and, ultimately, controversy.