Books in the Veronica series

Veronica's mother is black, and her father is white, but she looks entirely white, not biracial. People at school start making a big deal about it, but nobody cared before she got to eighth grade. Why do they think it's their business? Her world is changed forever. But how does she find herself in everybody else's confusion? In all the chaos?Even Veronica's best friend, Katie, who's white, acts weird sometimes, like when a black girl from school comes to the house to get her hair cut by Katie's mom."I didn't know my mom cut black people's hair," Katie said.This same black girl wanted Veronica to join her friends at lunch when she learned Veronica was black. Veronica wonders why this girl had never spoken to her before. Was it just because she's black that she wanted to be her friend now? And why had she called Katie a white-ass and huffed away when Veronica invited her to sit with them.Even the black girls in cooking class question Veronica's knowledge of greens and chitlins."Greens is black folk's food," they tell her.Is this her new life: explaining her racial background to everybody, black and white, including this boy who likes her. The first boy to like her.She doesn't know what to say when he repeats some racist things his dad told him. Is he a racist, too? Will he feel differently about her when she tells him the truth, which she has to do sooner than later!

When Veronica tells her boyfriend she's black, he laughs, pinches her cheek and says, "But, you're so white." Is she too sensitive, like he says? Another boy starts paying attention to her. He's mixed, too. Should she drop the boy who might have a problem with her for the other guy, who may know what it's like to live in two worlds?

"If you want to make friends, don't hang with Rhonda." This warning is like a slap in Veronica's face, because Rhonda was the only visibly black girl in her grade.Veronica hates that people assume she's prejudiced just because she looks white, even though her mother is black. Can she handle being rejected again? Can she get through the day fearing that people will make another racial slur?When school finally ends, Veronica's excited to escape the small town and spend the summer on Cape Cod with her friend Sally. But as soon as they drive off, she learns a terrible secret about Sally's family. Once they arrive at the cottage, things go from weird to worse.How will she survive the summer with this family from hell, with its hired black help in the kitchen? How can she avoid their criticisms and questions about what it's like to be mixed? Can she find peace with anyone on Cape Cod?