Bibi's birthday surprise Book

It probably would have behooved me well to read the first two books in the series first, but...oh well...too late now...

Between Madison and Palmetto packs a lot of punch for such a short book. Margaret and Maizon are growing up and trying to figure out what their lives will look like. One thinks she's too thin, the other thinks she's too fat; they're trying to better understand what makes life hard for them as young black girls, and what is different about life for young black boys. There's race talk and body talk and money talk and family talk.

Is it too much for such a short book? Maybe. But it works anyway, I think because there's no expectation that any of the (major!) plot points will be fully explored or fully resolved. They come out of the book having learned some things about race, for now. Maizon is building a new relationship with her father, for now. Margaret has a budding romance, for now. It's very nicely understated: a snapshot, but one where the depth is in the details.