How High the Moon

To Kill a Mockingbird meets One Crazy Summer in this powerful, bittersweet novel about one girl's journey to reconnect with her mother and learn the truth about her father in the tumultuous times of the Jim Crow South.

"Timely, captivating, and lovely. So glad this book is in the world." —Jacqueline Woodson, author of Brown Girl Dreaming
  In the small town of Alcolu, South Carolina, in 1944, 12-year-old Ella spends her days fishing and running around with her best friend Henry and cousin Myrna. But life is not always so sunny for Ella, who gets bullied for her light skin tone and whose mother is away pursuing her dream as a jazz singer.

So Ella is ecstatic when her mother invites her to visit for Christmas. Little does she expect the truths she will discover about her mother, the father she never knew, and her family's most unlikely history.

After a life-changing month, Ella returns South and is shocked by the news that her schoolmate George has been arrested for the murder of two local white girls.

Poignant and eye-opening, How High the Moon is a timeless novel about a girl finding herself in a world all but determined to hold her down.

Karyn Parsons is best known for her role as Will Smith's cousin Hilary Banks on NBC's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. After leaving acting behind, Karyn has gone on to found and produce Sweet Blackberry, an award-winning series of children's animated films, to share stories about unsung black heroes in history, featuring narration from stars such as Alfre Woodard, Queen Latifah, and Chris Rock. It's been screened on HBO and Netflix, and enjoyed by schools and libraries across the country. How High the Moon is Karyn's self-authored debut novel.