Bluest Eyes

Set in Lorain, Ohio, in the early 1940s, the novel follows Pecola Breedlove, a young Black girl who has grown up in a household marked by poverty, quarrels and neglect. Pecola believes that if she had blue eyes, the world would finally treat her kindly and her life would change. The story is told in part through Claudia MacTeer, a girl who lives nearby with her sister and their family, and who watches Pecola's struggle with a mix of sympathy and confusion. Through the girls' neighborhood and the adults around them, the book examines beauty standards, family, and the damage that racism and self-hatred can cause.