God Don't Like Ugly (PB) (2024)

The riveting first book in the acclaimed, award-winning and New York Times bestselling God series sweeps readers back to the streets, porches, and parlors of civil rights-era Ohio to bring to life the beginning of an enduring friendship between two girls from opposite sides of the track . . .

Annette Goode is a shy, awkward, overweight child with a terrible secret. Frightened and ashamed, Annette withdraws into a world of books and food. But the summer she turns thirteen, something incredible happens: Rhoda Nelson chooses her as a friend.

Dazzling, generous Rhoda, who is everything Annette is not--gorgeous, slim, and worldly--welcomes Annette into the heart of her eccentric family, which includes her handsome and dignified father; her lovely, fragile "Muh'Dear;" her brooding, dangerous brother Jock; and her colorful white relatives--half-crazy Uncle Johnny, sultry Aunt Lola, and scary, surly Granny Goose.

With Rhoda's help, Annette survives adolescence and blossoms as a woman. But when her beautiful best friend makes a stunning confession about a horrific childhood crime, Annette's world will never be the same.