The Black Girls Left Standing

Sixteen-year-old Beau Willet has dreams of being an artist and one day leaving the Chicago projects she’s grown up in. But after her older sister, Katia, is killed by an off-duty police officer, Beau knows she has to clear her sister’s name by finding the only witness to the murder, Katia’s no-good boyfriend Jordan, who has gone missing. If she doesn't find him and tell the world what really happened, Katia's death will be ignored, like the deaths of so many other Black women who are wrongfully killed.

With the help of her friend Sonnet, Beau sets up a Twitter account to gather anonymous tips. But the more Beau finds out about her sister's death, the more danger she finds herself in. With a new relationship developing with her childhood friend Champion and the struggle to keep her family together, Beau is soon way over her head. How much is she willing to risk to clear her sister's name and make sure she's not forgotten?

In Juliana Goodman's powerful young adult debut The Black Girls Left Standing, Beau Willet will stop at nothing to clear her sister's name.