Praised as "exuberantly engaging" by the
Los Angeles Times
and a "beautiful, beautiful piece of writing" by the
Houston Post
, acclaimed artist Ntozake Shange brings to life the story of a young girl's awakening amidst her country's seismic growing pains in
Betsey Brown.
Set in St. Louis in 1957, the year of the Little Rock Nine, Shange's story reveals the prismatic effect of racism on an American child and her family. Seamlessly woven into this masterful portrait of an extended family is the story of Betsey's adolescence, the rush of first romance, and the sobering responsibilities of approaching adulthood.