INDIGO AND IDA

A middle schooler learns important lessons while running for office.

Eighth grader Indigo Fitzgerald is willing to try anything to get her old friends back. An aspiring investigative journalist whose exposé videos get a lot of views, she attempts to change her squeaky-clean reputation by spray-painting a wall at school—which only lands her in detention. There, she encounters the autobiography of trailblazing Black journalist Ida B. Wells. While reading it and observing racial disparities between the student body as a whole and those present in detention, Indigo decides to expand her platform by running for student council president. Other issues in her family and community claim her attention as well. As her campaign progresses, she realizes she is being judged as intense, militant, and unlikable rather than as a crusader for justice. Indigo becomes more aware of how race impacts the way she is perceived and has a brave and honest conversation with her White mother about whether she can truly understand what Indigo, her brother, and her Black father experience. This lively middle-grade novel successfully captures the turmoil of finding one’s place while navigating the various demands of growing up. The fictional letters informed by research on Wells’ life show how learning about real-life figures can inform a young person’s development. Indigo is an intriguing character surrounded by a realistic supporting cast of peers and adults.

A satisfying story that demonstrates how the past can shed light on the present.