Definitely Cool

by Brenda Wilkinson

A lively tale about peer pressure finds Roxanne, a young African-American girl, redefining her original meaning of the word, "cool," when her values are challenged by other students. Reprint.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roxanne is twelve and finally going to middle school (seventh grade). She wants to dress cool and make cool new friends, not just hang out with the same boy from elementary school who lives in her building.

It took me a bit to get into this story, because I never cared about dressing cool or being cool. I had my small group of friends and that was that. When Roxanne also makes a small group of friends, the story picks up a bit. One of them is always absent, and another two get too focused on boys. The fourth friend is white, and knows more about the one who disappears all the time than she is willing to share.

I do like Roxanne's parents, their rules and expectations. Her mother tells her to change the way she speaks when she gets to school. The kids talk about race, racism, and code switching without using those terms, just in normal conversation.

I think this story still stands up in 2026.