In a Nutshell: Be Your Best
“Be bold. Be brave. Be beautiful. Be brilliant. Be (your) best”. So resolves main character Jade in this timely, inspirational novel that will surely motivate many young women to do the same.
Talented collage artist Jade is a bright teen with her eyes wide open to the world. She wants to learn Spanish “to give myself a way out. A way in. Because language can take you places”, and she has a scholarship to attend a mostly-white private school. While this is a great achievement and will open doors for her, Jade is acutely aware of how different she is from her classmates, not only because she’s black but also “because their mothers are the kind of people who hire housekeepers, and my mother is the kind of person who works as one”. Initially reluctant to accept a place on a programme for “at-risk” girls (she’s fed up of being labeled as someone who needs help), Jade takes it because “girls like me, with coal skin and hula-hoop hips, whose mommas barely make enough money to keep food in the house, have to take opportunities every chance we get”. Maxine, her mentor, takes her out to eat and buys her art books, but clued-up Jade is pretty sure that flaky Maxine could do with learning some life lessons herself, plus she creates some rifts between Jade and her mom.
In fact, everywhere she turns, Jade encounters conflict, leading her to wonder “if a black girl’s life is only about being stitched together and coming undone…I wonder if there’s ever a way for a girl like me to feel whole”. But one thing’s for sure, Jade’s not going to let anything distract her from being a success and making a difference.
At once moving and motivational, this incisive novel tackles issues of race, class and identity with power and depth, and Jade is one of those extraordinary characters you’d love to meet in real life - we could all learn a lot from Jade.
Head to our 'Black Lit Matters' list to find more must-read novels by black writers.
Timely and timeless. --Jacqueline Woodson Important and deeply moving. --John Green Acclaimed author Renee Watson offers a powerful story about a girl striving for success in a world that too often seems like it's trying to break her. Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way.
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
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Timely and timeless. --Jacqueline Woodson Important and deeply moving. --John Green Acclaimed author Renee Watson offers a powerful story about a girl striving for success in a world that too often seems like it's trying to break her. Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed.
Piecing Me Together features in the following genres: Young Adult Fiction, Book Club Recommendations, eBooks of the Month, Sharing Diverse Voices, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Recommendations, Fiction
Paperback. £8.09, down from the £8.99 cover price. In Stock.
Piecing Me Together was written by Renee Watson and published by Bloomsbury Childrens Books an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Piecing Me Together has 263 pages
£8.09, reduced from £8.99. In Stock.
