Genesis Begins Again

Genesis Begins Again is a book by Alicia D. Williams. The Title character is Genesis, a 13 year old girl from Detroit Michigan. She lives with her mother and father and her life is not stable. Her family constantly struggles to make ends meet and as a result we [the readers] get to dive deep into the insecurities of Genesis.

Being thirteen is hard enough without a tumultuous home life. Puberty, hormones, self-discover, peer pressure; there is no part of being thirteen that’s all roses. Now add on an alcoholic father, internalised racism and coming home from school not knowing whether or not you still have a place to live. Williams takes a deep approach to telling Genesis’ story and there were moments I just wanted to reach into the story and give Genesis a hug.

Genesis’ major issue is being dark skinned. She is made the object of peer based mocking by the boys at school and she has no support or true friendship with the girls either. As the protagonist, we get to see how she really feels about herself and it’s sad. She takes on the hate that is given to her and internalizes it; literally wearing all day everyday. Constantly wanting to lighten her skin tone so that she will no longer be made fun of by her peers. Or, wanting to be lighter skinned so badly that she bathes in bleach and scrapes her skin raw with a scouring pad.

Now, as a Black Woman, I know this narrative, I’ve heard it all my life; specifically, dark skinned girls, being verbally abused and/ or insulted for having dark skin. I’m not going to go into all the politics involved but I am very familiar with what my fellow Black women and girls go through. It’s harassment at school and the insult of “you’re really pretty for a dark skin girl”. Even though this story is a work of fiction, the narrative, the experience is very real. And in Genesis case, her mother is said to be very fair skinned with light eyes and she further suffers being abused by her father who, turns his drunken anger toward her with persecution for not having been born with her mother’s fair skin and light eyes.

I felt so deeply for this character. She eventually makes peace with her parents (she has mommy issues too) and learns why her father drinks and why her mother won’t leave. She also finds true friendship and begins to settle into a new and less abusive peer group. I recommend this read to all groups. Genesis Begins Again is an excellent middle grade read.