#1 Kids Indie Next List * Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Book of the Year * SLJ Best Book of the Year * Kirkus Best Book of the Year * Junior Library Guild Selection * Edgar Award Nominee * Four Starred Reviews
From debut author Janae Marks comes a captivating story full of heart, as one courageous girl questions assumptions, searches for the truth, and does what she believes is right—even in the face of great opposition. Zoe Washington isn’t sure what to write. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime? A crime he says he never committed. Could Marcus really be innocent? Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from the rest of her family. Everyone else thinks Zoe’s worrying about doing a good job at her bakery internship and proving to her parents that she’s worthy of auditioning for Food Network’s Kids Bake Challenge. But with bakery confections on one part of her mind, and Marcus’s conviction weighing heavily on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to be true: Everyone lies. "When Marcus tells Zoe he is innocent, and her grandmother agrees, Zoe begins to learn about inequality in the criminal justice system, and she sets out to find the alibi witness who can prove his innocence." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List") |
Activity 1:
Zoe learns about the Innocence Project in this book. What is the Innocence Project, what has it accomplished, and how? Research different cases and explain how they relate to Zoe’s story. (https://www.innocenceproject.org/.)
Activity 2:
Zoe loved to bake. How about you? Download this worksheet and design and decorate your own cupcakes. Make sure you answer all of the questions as well as decorate. Be creative!!
Activity 3:
There are some interesting new words in the book From the Desk of Zoey Washington. Download this Word Scramble and see if you can unscramble all of them. These words might help you to get them all unscrambled.
innocent glimpse scowling foyer
impostor criminal autopsy pastry
internship alibi victim culinary
vendor stubborn guilty yelped
manipulates
Zoe learns about the Innocence Project in this book. What is the Innocence Project, what has it accomplished, and how? Research different cases and explain how they relate to Zoe’s story. (https://www.innocenceproject.org/.)
Activity 2:
Zoe loved to bake. How about you? Download this worksheet and design and decorate your own cupcakes. Make sure you answer all of the questions as well as decorate. Be creative!!
Activity 3:
There are some interesting new words in the book From the Desk of Zoey Washington. Download this Word Scramble and see if you can unscramble all of them. These words might help you to get them all unscrambled.
innocent glimpse scowling foyer
impostor criminal autopsy pastry
internship alibi victim culinary
vendor stubborn guilty yelped
manipulates