Cleo Edison Oliver, Playground Millionaire

About this book

A multiracial, capitalist tale that’s equal parts The Lemonade War and Encyclopedia Brown.

Cleopatra Edison Oliver has always been an entrepreneur, just like her inspiration, successful businesswoman Fortune A. Davies. So when Cleo’s fifth-grade teacher assigns her class a “Passion Project,” Cleo comes up with her best business idea yet: the finest “tooth-pulling” company in town. With the help of her best friend Caylee, a Nerf gun, her dad’s tablet, and her patented Persuasion Power, Cleo’s Quick and Painless Tooth Removal Service starts to take off.

But even the best made plans, by the best CEOs, go awry sometimes. A minor barfing incident during a tooth-pulling operation causes Cleo to lose customers. Caylee, initially enthusiastic about the business, grows distant as Cleo neglects their friendship in lieu of getting more customers. And when a mean classmate makes fun of Cleo for being adopted, everything comes crashing down. Will she be able to rescue her business, salvage her friendship with Caylee, and discover that her true home has been here all along?

Reviews

Praise for The Other Half of My Heart

*"Funny and deeply affecting... the richest portrait of multiracial identity and family since Virginia Hamilton's 1976 novel Arilla Sun Down. An outstanding achievement." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

*"[Frazier's] ability to round out each character, looking past easy explanations for attitude, is impressive... A novel with a great deal of heart indeed..." -- Booklist, starred review


Praise for Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It

"Frazier delivers her messages without using an overly heavy hand. Brendan is a real kid with a passion for science and also a willingness to push his parents' rules; he's not just a placard for the author's central message." -- Booklist

"Brendan is an appealing character with a sense of honor... curiosity and intelligence. A good, accessible selection to inspire discussion of racism and prejudice." -- Kirkus Reviews

"This is an absorbing look at a 10-year-old boy who has never had to deal with race and prejudice, who collides into years of anger and hurt in his family and must create a new identity for himself... Frazier writes affectingly about what being biracial means in 21st-century America." -- School Library Journal