Hattie Mae Begins Again -- Sharon G. Flake, Hardcover

From the three-time Coretta Scott King Honor winning author of The Skin I'm In comes a poignant story about a southern girl far from home at an elite girls boarding school in the north, who must find the courage to be herself and to dream of a brighter future, set against the backdrop of the great migration in South Philly.

Hattie Mae hails from Seed County, North Carolina. She knows hard work: milking cows, plucking chickens, minding the garden. Her hands are made for manual labor--her feet for dirt--that is according to Lisa and some of the other girls at Miss Abigail's School for Exceptional Young Ladies in Philadelphia. Hattie could never be a doctor or a scientist or anyone worthy cause she's a hick from the south.
Hattie is afraid they might be right. She sticks out like a sore thumb from the way she dresses to the way she eats to the way she carries herself. Hattie has more in common with the hundreds of Black folks pouring into the city looking for better opportunities away from Jim Crow's south. She doesn't belong and doubts that she ever will.
A moving coming-of-age story about finding the courage to be yourself and chasing a better life, lifting other folks up with you along the way.

Author: Sharon G. Flake
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published: 01/13/2026
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 8.25h x 5.50w x 0.81d
ISBN: 9780593650349
Audience: Ages 9-12

Review Citation(s):
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 11/01/2025

About the Author
Sharon G. Flake is the author of The Skin I'm In, which has sold over a million copies worldwide and has been translated into numerous languages. Since its publication, Flake has authored over a dozen books, winning multiple Coretta Scott King Honor Awards; ALA Notable and Top Ten Recommended Books citations, and an NAACP Image Award Nomination, among many accolades. She has been writing books from her home (and Panera's) for over twenty years, including Once in a Blue Moon.