Author Description

Fifteen-year-old Rita Fernandez’s problems overwhelm her. She knows they’re only happening because she’s brown! Her father refuses to buy her the horse of her dreams until her grades improve. If they don’t, it could jeopardize her status as a Stewart Falls Academy cheerleader. In addition, Dave Jefferson, the guy Rita adores, still sees her as a troublesome younger sister type. He tells other boys she’s too young to date until she has her quinceañera, the party she should have had a year ago when she turned fifteen. Even as her friends on the cheer squad rally to help Rita have her coming-of-age celebration, more issues arise when her mother tries to sabotage her quinceañera. Rita feels life is so hard because she’s brown. Now, how will she deal with it?