Shayla Willows and her best friends Julia and Isabella make up the “united nations.” Shayla is African-American, Julia is Japanese-American and Isabella is Puerto Rican--three girls from different racial backgrounds but alike in everything that really matters. At least that’s what they’ve always thought. Junior High changes things.

Without her braces and unibrow, Isabella is suddenly gorgeous and capturing the attention of Shayla’s crush. Julia inexplicably seems more interested in hanging out with an all-Asian group than her best friends and is talking weird. And maybe the biggest change of all is with Shayla herself. Shayla’s always been allergic to trouble, so it doesn’t make sense that she’d let her uncoordinated self be talked into trying out for the track team, or why she’d stand up for a bully. But the biggest change by far is how Shayla is realizing, with all the cases of police brutality she’s seeing on the news, that race, does indeed matter.

When Shayla wears a black armband to school in support of Black Lives Matter, the principal tells her the armbands are against dress code. Take it off or be off the track team.

Shayla must decide if standing up for what you believe is worth the trouble.

Themes: Racial Inequality, Self-Discovery, Social Justice, Black Lives Matter, Activism