Genesis keeps a list of the things she dislikes about herself. That list is long and getting longer. When she arrives home from school to find everything they own sitting on the front lawn for the fourth time, she is fed up. What is wrong with her father? Why doesn't he pay the rent? Will she and her mother have to go stay with her bossy grandmother again or will they have to stay in someone's basement again?
After staying with her grandmother once again, Genesis is thrilled when her father shows up to take them to see the house he has been able to rent from a friend at his work. It's in a suburb called Farmington Hills, and it is amazing. Her father also tells them he is getting a promotion that will give them the chance to have everything they have always wanted.
Now all Genesis has to do is fix the things about her that she hates. Most of all it is her dark skin. She hates having her father's dark skin and broad nose and lips. Why can't she look more like her mother? She reads about ways to lighten her skin, but nothing seems to work. The kids at her new school are just like the kids in her other schools. They call her names like Charcoal and Burnt.
When her father starts disappearing for days at a time and is drunk when he comes home, Genesis blames herself. She knows he must hate her because she isn't light skinned and pretty like her mother. It isn't until she discovers she has a talent for singing that she believes there's hope for her to prove her worth to her father. Hopefully, he'll stop drinking and work harder to help them keep the most wonderful house they've ever had.
Author Alicia D. Williams explores the prejudice of colorism as she introduces readers to a topic most don't understand. Family pressures and disfunction join up with bullying to make this a story that will open readers' eyes as they witness Genesis try to beat the odds to discover her true worth.
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