Brandy Colbert on The Only Black Girls in Town
The TeachingBooks Virtual Book Tour is your opportunity to learn from and build personal connections with extraordinary book creators. In this post, critically-acclaimed author Brandy Colbert speaks about her first middle-grade title, The Only Black Girls in Town.



As we worked to complete the project, we always had in our minds the many students we’ve met — students who have moved us and changed us with their strength and vulnerability.

Birdsong is a celebration of relationships, an intergenerational friendship between two neighbors, an older artist named Agnes, and a young girl, Katherena, told from the child’s point of view. Agnes sees Katherena as an equal, and I hope readers will be able to find themselves in this book. 
She discovered Jo March and said meeting Jo awakened something within her that she didn't know she had. She began to believe in herself, and her new vision and sense of agency began to lead her dreams. 
Science is magic and magic is science is an idea I play with in Weird Little Robots. [...] I pretty much live my life thinking miracles and magic are around every corner, and I’d love it if kids were inspired to think the same way after reading my book.