Rainbow Jordan
Overview & Summary
Fourteen-year-old Rainbow Jordan is repeatedly left to fend for herself when her young, unreliable mother Kathie disappears for weeks at a time with various boyfriends, forcing Rainbow back into the care of her foster mother, Miss Josephine. Told in alternating first-person voices from Rainbow, Kathie, and Josephine, the novel examines loyalty, abandonment, and what it means to be loved imperfectly. Alice Childress's spare, vernacular prose captures a girl who is, as the book's tagline puts it, "too brave to be a child, too scared to be a woman."
Available Formats
- Hardcover
- Paperback
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Who This Book Is For
Designed for High school students (Grades 9–12) preparing for curricula at schools like Castilleja School, Choate Rosemary Hall. It fits right into English Literature studies.
Why CE Recommends This Book
Selected for Academic Enrichment & Readiness. Pushing slightly beyond standard classroom expectations, this title widens vocabulary, supports steady Lexile growth, and builds the academic rigor needed for advanced middle and high school courses.
