CHARISMA’S TURN

A Black teen makes the most of an opportunity to find and pursue her passion.

High school senior Charisma lives with her mother and younger brother, who has asthma. She often gets into verbal and physical conflicts at her racially diverse urban school due to stress and exhaustion from home responsibilities and slights from educators who expect little of her. School counselor Ms. Anderson takes an interest in Charisma and helps her learn how to process her feelings and channel them into something positive and productive. She tells Charisma that she believes “the ‘fight’ you have in you is really about something else. I see it as leadership that's being misdirected.” As a result of this mentoring, which includes exposure to inspirational Black women writers, Charisma’s worldview is broadened and school performance is improved, and she goes on to organize a community event about environmental racism, something that affects her personally as well as her neighborhood at large. Couvson’s writing conveys a connection and experience with young people like Charisma, who are often ill-treated and ignored. Jones’ highly saturated, if slightly static, illustrations give readers an understanding of Charisma’s social and physical environments. This expository book models the important ways many educators care about and uplift marginalized students who may feel overlooked and undervalued.

A concise story about listening to and supporting young people.