Booktalk #1

Massachusetts State Penitentiary. That’s what the return address said.

Zoe Washington’s twelfth birthday has arrived. So has the emotional upheaval caused by the arrival of a mysterious letter from jail. A letter from the father she never knew. A father in jail for murder.

Zoe and her father engage in a clandestine journey as they exchange secret letters and phone calls. Zoe’s grandmother helps facilitate the connection, keeping secrets from Zoe’s mom.

Through the letters, Zoe starts to believe in her father’s innocence. Was he wrongly convicted? Is he really innocent? Could he really be guilty of the horrific crime that sent him to jail?

This amazing story of forgiveness, redemption, and racial profiling brings hope, promise, and love to the forefront. Join Zoe as she sets out to prove her father’s innocence and right a wrong. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award, 2021)

Booktalk #2

On her 12th birthday, Zoe Washington's life takes a significant shift after she receives a letter from her father in prison who committed a horrific crime before she was born. She finds his thoughtful letter confusing. How can he seem so kind if he's committed a terrible crime? Feisty Zoe has a busy summer ahead with a job at "Ari's Cakes" bakery, which provides great training because she wants to become a pastry chef and compete on Food Network's Kid's Bake Challenge. Her summer doesn't go exactly as planned, working at Ari's bakery and secretly researching in the library about systemic racism in the prison systems. Zoe is a bright, motivated girl, curious to find out the truth about her father. You’ll learn a lot about systemic racism through Zoe's discoveries, rooting for her as she searches for answers, while also learning how to make the best cupcakes. (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award 2021-2022)