Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams was published in 2019 and won a Newbery Honor medal, the Coretta Scott King Award, and was a finalist for the William C Morris Debut Award. 

Genesis, the main character of this story, deals with poverty and housing instability because of her father's gambling and alcohol addictions. Genesis loves her parents and they love her and each other, but life with an addict is hard.

Genesis's grandmother is willing to help Genesis and her mother, but her help comes at a cost. Grandma is a multi-generational victim and perpetrator of colorism. Genesis, like her father, has very dark skin - even her gums are dark. She doesn't like herself and has a list of the reasons she dislikes herself - being too black is only one of the items on her list. 

I enjoyed this well-written story of a young girl trying to fit in a society that doesn't always appreciate her gifts. The author dealt realistically with the father's addictions, issues of poverty, relationships, and the struggle to fit in. 

My daughter, Caitie Jolley, donated these books to our NICU book project. If you haven't read these books, they are incredibly fun to read to a little one. Thank you, Caitie. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Read to a child today even if that child is you.