What's it about?

In 1965, "The Circle" in Watts, Los Angeles, was filled with its own particular joys and troubles. This vibrant neighborhood comes alive in Salmon Croquettes, a heartwarming, humorous, and sometimes heartbreaking, historical fiction that brilliantly exposes the strength, resilience, and interconnectedness of the Black community.

Zayla Lucille McKinney grapples with the confusion of feeling like a boy trapped in a girl's body. Is she what the other girls call her, a "bulldagger"? And what does that even mean? In the midst of her transformation from 12-year-old tomboy to young woman, the community she loves explodes in a racial uprising. The Watts Riots teach Zayla the fragility of life and the importance of friendship. As the embers die down and the smoke clears, Zayla also learns something else, a family secret. Salmon Croquettes is a sensitive exploration of Zayla's transition from childhood incomprehension - why do adults expect children to magically understand what is not acceptable? - to an acceptance of who she is and the truth of who her parents really are.