# Genesis Begins Again - Hardcover

by **Alicia D. Williams** (Author)

**A Newbery Honor Book**  
**Winner of the Correta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award**  
**A Morris Award Finalist**  
**An NPR Favorite Book of 2019**  
**A _School Library Journal_ Best Middle Grade Book of 2019**  
**A _Kirkus Reviews_ Best Middle Grade Book of 2019**

**This deeply sensitive and powerful debut novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself.**

There are ninety-six things Genesis hates about herself. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list. Like #95: Because her skin is so dark, people call her charcoal and eggplant--even her own family. And #61: Because her family is always being put out of their house, belongings laid out on the sidewalk for the world to see. When your dad is a gambling addict and loses the rent money every month, eviction is a regular occurrence.

What's not so regular is that this time they all don't have a place to crash, so Genesis and her mom have to stay with her grandma. It's not that Genesis doesn't like her grandma, but she and Mom always fight--Grandma haranguing Mom to leave Dad, that she should have gone back to school, that if she'd married a lighter skinned man none of this would be happening, and on and on and on. But things aren't all bad. Genesis actually likes her new school; she's made a couple friends, her choir teacher says she has real talent, and she even encourages Genesis to join the talent show.

But how can Genesis believe anything her teacher says when her dad tells her the exact opposite? How can she stand up in front of all those people with her dark, dark skin knowing even her own family thinks lesser of her because of it? Why, why, why won't the lemon or yogurt or fancy creams lighten her skin like they're supposed to? And when Genesis reaches #100 on the list of things she hates about herself, will she continue on, or can she find the strength to begin again?

### Author Biography

Alicia D. Williams is the author of _Genesis Begins Again_, which received Newbery and Kirkus Prize honors, was a William C. Morris Award finalist, and for which she won the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent; and picture books _Jump at the Sun_ and _The Talk_, a Coretta Scott King Honor book. A graduate of the MFA program at Hamline University, and an oral storyteller in the African American tradition, she is also a teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina.

**Number of Pages:** 384

**Dimensions:** 1.3 x 8.3 x 5.5 IN

**Publication Date:** January 15, 2019

**Award:** John Steptoe New Talent Award (2020)

**Award:** Newbery Medal (2020)

**Award:** William C. Morris YA Debut Award (2020)

**Accelerated Reader:**

**Quiz Name:** Genesis Begins Again

**Interest Level:** Middle Grades, 4-8

**Reading Level:** 4.5

**Point Value:** 11

## Details

- **Price:** 17.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 17.99 USD | In stock |

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- Genesis Begins Again - Hardcover

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