Reading Metrics
Grade Level
Upper Grades (UG 9-12)
Book Level
5.8
Points
14.0
Fiction/Nonfiction
Fiction
Word Count
87059
Points per Word
0.000161
Page Count
326
Points per Page
0.042945
Description
Frustrated by the limitations of cross-race communication in her predominantly white town, Laurel, a young African American girl, teaches herself to sign--a skill she later imparts to her two daughters. The plot contains profanity and racial slurs.