Phyllisia Cathy

Phyllisia Cathy is a young teenage girl. She emigrates with her parents from the West Indies to Harlem, New York in the 1960s. She is teased and bullied at school because she thinks she is better than everyone else in her class. She becomes superficial friends with Edith Jackson while dealing with difficulties at home. Her older sister is prettier than her, and she constantly lives in her family’s shadow.

Phyllisia deals with problems pertaining to self-worth. She wants people to think that she and her family are wealthy, so Phyllisia puts on an air of sophistication. She believes that people are beneath her because they are less wealthy. She tries to surround herself with people she thinks are beautiful and popular, although she doesn’t actually like them. Instead, it takes her a difficult journey to find that Edith is her true friend. It is...