Pretty Girl County

Gr 7 Up–Prince George’s County, MD, also known as Pretty Girl County, is home to Black wealth and Black families struggling to make it. Raya and Sommer used to be best friends in the lower-income neighborhood of Seat Pleasant. When Raya’s mom found fame as a lawyer and joined the Housewives of Potomac franchise, Raya left behind Seat Pleasant and Sommer to live in a more affluent community. Although they go to the same school, the girls no longer maintain a relationship. When Raya is waitlisted for her dream school, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and Sommer can’t afford her dream school, Spelman, Raya offers to pay Sommer to help her with the school fashion show and hopefully get off the waitlist at FIT. As the girls reconnect and redefine their relationship, they experience new romances and overcome unexpected struggles. This novel is Wilson’s love letter to her hometown. Readers will come to learn the pride that families have in their neighborhoods as well as the rivalries that sometimes appear. Sommer’s love triangle between her and boys from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum adds an additional layer to how social class impacts the characters. Raya’s relationship with her dream girl, Carmen, is also not without its trials.