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Delores Phillips

The Darkest Child

Delores PhillipsFiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004

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Book Brief

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Delores Phillips

The Darkest Child

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004
Book Details
Pages

400

Format

Novel • Fiction

Setting

Georgia • 1950s

Publication Year

2004

Audience

YA

Recommended Reading Age

18+ years

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Super Short Summary

The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips follows 13-year-old Tangy Mae Quinn as she navigates the harsh realities of racism, domestic abuse, poverty, and exploitation in the Jim Crow South, ultimately finding hope through education and her eventual escape from her abusive mother. The novel addresses intense themes such as physical and sexual abuse, child sex trafficking, lynching, infanticide, and segregation.

Dark

Gritty

Melancholic

Challenging

Unnerving

Reviews & Readership

4.5

20,737 ratings

88%

Loved it

9%

Mixed feelings

3%

Not a fan

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Review Roundup

The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips garners high praise for its powerful storytelling and complex characters, vividly depicting racial and familial struggles. Phillips' poignant prose is widely appreciated, though some critique it for its harrowing and relentless grimness. Overall, it’s recognized as a compelling, though emotionally challenging, narrative.

Who should read this

Who Should Read The Darkest Child?

Readers who appreciate deeply emotional, historical novels will enjoy The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips. With themes reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, it captures the struggles of African American life in the 1950s South, focusing on family dynamics, resilience, and personal growth.

4.5

20,737 ratings

88%

Loved it

9%

Mixed feelings

3%

Not a fan

Book Details
Pages

400

Format

Novel • Fiction

Setting

Georgia • 1950s

Publication Year

2004

Audience

YA

Recommended Reading Age

18+ years

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