Being Clem

Holiday House, 2022

A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of the Year

The final novel in the award-winning Finding Langston trilogy from Coretta Scott King Author Honoree and Scott O’Dell Award medalist Lesa Cline-Ransome.

Clem can make anybody, even his grumpy older sisters, smile with his jokes. But when his family receives news that his father has died in the infamous Port Chicago disaster, everything begins to fall apart. Clem’s mother is forced to work long, tough hours as a maid for a wealthy white family. Soon Clem can barely recognize his home–and himself. Can he live up to his father’s legacy?

Kirkus Best Book

A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year

A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book

A CSMCL Best Multicultural Children's Book of the Year

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection