Substitute Me (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781439171103)

Zora Anderson is a 30-year-old African American middle class, college educated woman, trained as a chef, looking for a job. As fate would have it, Kate and Craig, a married couple, aspiring professionals with a young child are looking for a nanny.

Zora seems perfect. She's an enthusiastic caretaker, a competent house keeper, a great cook. And she wants the job, despite the fact that she won't let her African American parents and brother know anything about this new career move. They expect much more from her than to use all that good education to do what so many Blacks have dreamed of not doing: working for White folks. Working as an au pair in Paris, France no less, was one thing, they could accept that. Being a servant to a couple not much older nor more educated, is yet another. Every adult character involved in this tangled web is hiding something: the husband is hiding his desire to turn a passion for comic books into a business from his wife, the wife is hiding her professional ambitions from her husband, the nanny is hiding her job from her family and maybe her motivations for staying on her job from herself.

Memorable characters, real-life tensions and concerns and the charming--in a hip kind of way--modern-day Park Slope, Fort Greene, Brooklyn setting make for an un-put-down-able read.

Author: Lori L. Tharps
ISBN-10: 1439171106
ISBN-13: 9781439171103
Publisher: Atria Books
Language: English
Published: 08/24/2010
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.67lbs
Size: 8.16h x 5.32w x 0.98d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 05/01/2010
Essence 07/12/2010 pg. 64
Entertainment Weekly 08/02/2010 pg. 75
Booklist 08/01/2010 pg. 28
Publishers Weekly 11/01/2010