From the Desk of Zoe Washington

I read From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks aloud to Emmeline for our Girls' Book Club in May. It is the story of Zoe, who has never met her birth father because he's in prison for a terrible crime. However, when she receives a letter from him on her 12th birthday and starts corresponding with him, she finds out he claims to be innocent. Zoe works to uncover the truth--while trying to keep her family from knowing what's going on.

This was a great read. Emmeline and I both enjoyed it, and all the girls in the book club gave it a thumbs up (meaning they loved it or really liked it). The author had a good balance of hard stuff (father in prison, accused of murder, etc.) with fun stuff (Zoe creating a cupcake recipe of her own and trying to be on a kids' cooking show). The story was engaging (almost too stressful for me at times!) with likable characters. The book does have Zoe lying a lot to her parents and grandma, which is tricky because I don't think that's a great example to kids--and yet all her lying paid off in the end. Tricky. :) I liked that this book is Own Voices (black author writing about a black character) and that it addresses the issue of parental incarceration because I always think it's good to expand kids' experiences and understanding.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)