The riveting first book in the acclaimed God series sweeps readers back to the streets, porches, and parlors of civil rights–era Ohio to bring to life the beginning of an enduring friendship between two girls from opposite sides of the track …

Annette Goode is a shy, awkward, overweight child with a terrible secret.

Frightened and ashamed, Annette withdraws into a world of books and food. But the summer she turns thirteen, something incredible happens: Rhoda Nelson chooses her as a friend.

Dazzling, generous Rhoda, who is everything Annette is not—gorgeous, slim, and worldly—welcomes Annette into the heart of her eccentric family, which includes her handsome and dignified father; her lovely, fragile “Muh’Dear"; her brooding, dangerous brother Jock; and her colorful

white relatives—half-crazy Uncle Johnny, sultry Aunt Lola, and scary, surly Granny Goose.

With Rhoda’s help, Annette survives adolescence and blossoms as a woman. But when her beautiful best friend makes a stunning confession about a horrific childhood crime, Annette’s world will never be the same.

"Reminiscent of Zora Neale Hurston."—Publishers Weekly