Home / Books / The Girl in the Yellow Poncho

The Girl in the Yellow Poncho

A Memoir

The Girl in the Yellow Poncho cover image Read a Sample

Book

Pages: 224

Illustrations: 16 illustrations

Published: August 2023

Author: Kristal Brent Zook

At five years old, Kristal Brent Zook sat on the steps of a Venice Beach, California, motel trying to make sense of her white father’s abandonment, which left her feeling unworthy of a man’s love and of white protection. Raised by her working-class African American mother and grandmother, Zook was taught not to count on anyone, especially men. Men leave. Men disappoint. In adulthood she became a feminist, activist, and “race woman” journalist in New York City. Despite her professional success, something was missing. Coming to terms with her identity was a constant challenge.

The Girl in the Yellow Poncho is Zook’s coming-of-age tale about what it means to be biracial in America. Throughout, she grapples with in-betweenness while also facing childhood sexual assault, economic insecurity, and multigenerational alcoholism and substance abuse on both the Black and white sides of her family. Her story is one of strong Black women—herself, her cousin, her mother, and her grandmother—and the generational cycles of oppression and survival that seemingly defined their lives.

Setting out on an inner journey that takes her across oceans and continents, Zook tells the story of a little girl who never gives up on love, even long after it seems to have been destroyed. In the end she triumphs, reconciling with her father and mother to create the family of her dreams through forgiveness and sheer force of will. A testament to the power of settling into one’s authentic identity, this book tells a story of a daughter’s lifelong yearning, a mother’s rediscovery of lost love, and the profound power of atonement and faith to heal a broken family.

Praise

“After thirty years of reporting, Kristal Brent Zook has turned inward to write a deeply personal, frank, and inspirational story about race and class.” - Ada Calhoun, author of Why We Can't Sleep: Women’s New Midlife Crisis

“Kristal Brent Zook’s coming-of-age memoir is a thought-provoking tale of triumph outdistancing pain, of never giving up on love and hope despite childhood traumas and a broken family. Kristal writes so beautifully and urgently. The Girl in the Yellow Poncho will absolutely absorb you.” - Kevin Merida, coauthor of Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs

“Brilliantly capturing the complexities of contemporary Black women’s experiences, The Girl in the Yellow Poncho is the most riveting, compelling memoir I have read.” - Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Anna Julia Cooper Professor of Women’s Studies, Spelman College

“Kristal’s story touched me deeply. It will touch everyone who has struggled with feeling the ‘in-betweenness’ that propels her riveting heroine’s journey to define herself and create the family for which she yearned. The writing is as powerful as the message: love ultimately triumphs.” - Gloria Feldt, author of Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take the Lead for (Everyone’s) Good

“Kristal Brent Zook’s memoir is a wrenching, riveting and luminous coming-of-age story about what it means to grow up biracial. Her journey reads like a multigenerational tale woven by strong biracial and Black women—in this case, the daughters, mothers and grandmothers of Zook’s family. With grace and generosity, Zook offers a universal testament to the power of forgiveness and healing—and the strength found through discovering one’s authentic identity. At a time when we often feel lost, this memoir reveals what it means to be found.” - Katrina vanden Heuvel, Publisher,, The Nation

“Kristal Brent Zook has written an honest, illuminating look at her life, loves and culture.” - Nelson George, author of City Kid: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success

"A powerful memoir about a woman’s odyssey for connection, self-identity, and love." - Kirkus Reviews

"In this intimate and generous memoir, Kristal Brent Zook explores the complexities of her past and the consummation of her present as a biracial daughter of a white father who left and the Black mother and grandmother who raised her." - Karla J. Srand, Ms. Magazine

“Zook recalls a childhood haunted by her missing father—and complicated by his return. A brave, heart-stirring memoir.” - People

Buy

Availability: Loading...

Price: Loading...

Request a desk or exam copy

Information

Author/Editor Bios Table Of Contents Rights Additional Information

Author/Editor Bios

Back to Top
Kristal Brent Zook is Professor of Journalism at Hofstra University and author of Color by Fox: The Fox Network and the Revolution in Black Television, Black Women’s Lives: Stories of Pain and Power, and I See Black People: The Rise and Fall of African American-Owned Television and Radio. Zook’s entertainment, cultural, and social justice journalism has appeared in Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, Life, Entertainment Weekly, the New York Times Book Review, Essence, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. She lives in Miami and New York.

Table Of Contents

Back to Top
Preface  ix
Acknowledgments xi
1. Kansas Avenue  1
2. Uncle Mervin  7
3. Noches  13
4. Laurel Canyon  17
5. Dra  23
6. Hollywood Boulevard  27
7. Rockin’ Out  33
8. College Bound  41
9. Activist  47
10. Light-Skinned  55
11. Taking a Chance  63
12. Dad  69
13. ABD  79
14. Detour  87
15. Writer  95
16. Pain  105
17. Australia  111
18. Hiding  119
19. An Adventure  127
20. Alfonso  133
21. A New Life  141
22. Multiracial  149
23. Forgiving  155
24. Memories  159
25. Vashon Island  163
26. Thanksgiving  171
27. Lisa  177
28. Rekindled  183
29. Rage  189
30. A Birthday  195
31. Mothers  199
32. Transformation  207

Rights

Back to Top

Sales/Territorial Rights: World

Rights and licensing

Additional Information

Back to Top