** Publisher’s Suggested Age: 14+ **

WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE US

From debut author Pamela Harris comes a timely, gripping teen novel about a

boy who must take up the search for his sister when she goes missing from a

neighborhood where black girls’ disappearances are too often overlooked.

Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Tiffany D. Jackson.

When you look like us—brown skin, brown eyes, black braids or fades—everyone

else thinks you’re trouble. No one even blinks twice over a missing black girl from

public housing because she must’ve brought whatever happened to her upon

herself. I, Jay Murphy, can admit that, for a minute, I thought my sister Nicole just

got caught up with her boyfriend—a drug dealer—and his friends. But she’s been

gone too long. Nic, where are you?

 "If I hadn’t hung up on her that night, she would be at our house, spending time with Grandma.If I was a better brother, she’d be finishing senior year instead of being another name on a missingpersons list.It’s time to step up, to do what the Newport News police department won’t. Bring her home.

In America alone, about 37 percent of children who go missing are black, even though black childrenonly make up about 14 percent of all children in the United States (CNN). And although black womenmake up less than 7% of the U.S. population, they represent about 10% of all missing persons casesthroughout the country (Montgomery Advertiser). Because of media biases, lack of resources, and areluctance to interact with the police, the rate is much higher for black kids than white kids. Jay’s sisterrepresents one of thousands of black girls that are currently missing.