The Color Line: A Novel by Igiaba Scego Books and self‑discovery set against a

and self‑discovery set against a backdrop of complicated social and racial histories

Baptist and lively illustrations from debut picture book artist Darnell Johnson

You are perfect and important—you and all your gifts belong

but is saved from the depths by a force he doesn’t understand

Precocious and clear-eyed

The Color Line: A Novel by Igiaba Scego Books and self‑discovery set against aInspired by true events, this gorgeous, haunting novel intertwines the lives of two Black female artists more than a century apart, both outsiders in Italy. It was the middle of the nineteenth century when Lafanu Brown audaciously decided to become an artist. In the wake of the American Civil War, life was especially tough for Black women, but she didnt let that stop her. The daughter of a Chippewa woman and an African Haitian man, Lafanu had the rare