瑞秋的母親是丹麥人，母親是黑人美國大兵。在芝加哥屋頂上一個決定性的早晨，瑞秋成為了家庭悲劇的唯一倖存者。
瑞秋被迫搬到一個陌生的城市，由她嚴厲的非裔美國祖母擔任監護人。她第一次融入一個以黑人為主的社區。在這裡，她淺棕色的皮膚、湛藍的眼睛和美麗的容貌讓她備受矚目。正是在那裡，隨著她逐漸長大，努力嚥下悲傷，她逐漸明白了母親的神秘和悲劇可能與她自身不確定的身份認同息息相關。
這部感人至深、令人心碎的作品，描繪了一位年輕的混血女孩如何應對社會對種族和階級的觀念，並榮獲貝爾韋瑟獎最佳社會正義小說手稿獎。
Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on their Chicago rooftop.
Forced to move to a new city, with her strict African American grandmother as her guardian, Rachel is thrust for the first time into a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring a constant stream of attention her way. It’s there, as she grows up and tries to swallow her grief, that she comes to understand how the mystery and tragedy of her mother might be connected to her own uncertain identity.
This searing and heart-wrenching portrait of a young biracial girl dealing with society’s ideas of race and class is the winner of the Bellwether Prize for best fiction manuscript addressing issues of social justice.
