Yolanda

Yolanda is the eleven-year-old protagonist of the novel. She is a very large, African-American girl with an unquenchable appetite. Yolanda is big for her age and very tough. She dreams of being nimble enough to play double-dutch with the rest of the girls her age, so when she moves to Grand River, Michigan, she reinvents herself as a world class jump roper. Aside from her athletic pursuits, much of Yolanda's time is spent watching over her younger brother, Andrew, whom she realizes is a musical genius. Yolanda always thought she was smart, but when she reads the true definition of the word "genius" in the thick library dictionary, she realizes that it is Andrew, not she, that deserves the special attention and schools for the gifted. Unfortunately, no one believes Andrew is a genius because he can't even read. Yolanda's pursuit, then, becomes convincing the family that Andrew...