Karen English

It All Comes Down to This Karen English

A powerful middle grade coming-of-age novel set in a slowly integrating upper middle class Los Angeles neighborhood in the summer of 1965, from a Coretta Scott King Honor Award-winning author. Perfect for fans of Rita Williams-Garcia and Sharon M. Draper.

It's 1965, Los Angeles. Sophie is the new black kid in a nearly all-white neighborhood; her beloved sister, Lily, is going away to college soon; and her parents' marriage is rocky. Plus, there's her family's new, disapproving housekeeper to deal with. Then riots erupt in nearby Watts and a friend is unfairly arrested, and Sophie learns that life--and her own place in it--is even more complicated than she'd once thought.

"Honest, witty . . . relatable. Unfairness and race-consciousness run through the story--so do surprises. Bigotry wears many guises. Kindness does too." --Wall Street Journal

"Thoughtful and well-wrought . . . . Compassionate, pointed, and empowering." --Booklist, starred review

"An impressive coming-of-age story." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Reveals how an impressionable and intelligent child learns from the injustices that touch her, her family, and her friends." --Publishers Weekly, starred review