The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods

Violet has a great family, she is smart and funny and the only one in her family with brown eyes and brown skin.  Her mom is white and blond and so is her half sister.  Her dad, who died before she was born, was black. She’s really tired of people asking if she is adopted.
Attending a mostly white school, Violet feels disconnected from her black side.  Taking matters into her own hands, she looks up her paternal grandmother online and finds that she has an art opening and reception in a nearby city.  So begins a relationship that reclaims her dad’s side of the family.  Visiting grandmother Roxanne in a mostly black neighborhood of Los Angeles and meeting relatives she had never heard of, Violet feels at home and validated.  She discovers her roots and celebrates all the parts of herself. A heart warming story about family and identity.

Tessa's picks
3rd-6th
Character driven, contemporary fiction, family life, people of color

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