This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

Copyright © 2011 by Laura Goode

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.

Excerpt from Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown, copyright © 1973 by Rita Mae Brown. Used by permission of Bantam Books, a division of Random House.

“Yesterday I told my girls” used with kind permission of Lucie Brock-Broido.

Excerpt from Roseann Lloyd’s “Norwegian Spring, 1962” from War Baby Express. Copyright © 1996 by Roseann Lloyd. Reprinted with permission of Holy Cow Press, www.holycowpress.org.

“MC Lyte Likes Swingin” by Lana Michelle Moorer, copyright © 1988 by Lana Michelle Moorer. Reprinted with permission of First Priority Music.

“Deathless Aphrodite of the Spangled Mind” from If Not, Winter by Anne Carson, copyright © 2002 by Anne Carson. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.

Excerpt from Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, copyright © 1985 by Jeanette Winterson. Used by permission of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

“Party for the fight to write” by Atmosphere, copyright © 2001 by Atmosphere. Reprinted with permission of Rhymesayers Entertainment.

First electronic edition 2011

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2010038706
ISBN 978-0-7636-4640-0 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-7636-5464-1 (electronic)

Candlewick Press
99 Dover Street
Somerville, Massachusetts 02144

visit us at www.candlewick.com