{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1541601009?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"1541601009","authors":["Martha S. Jones"],"book_id":"9781541601000","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781541601000","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781541601000.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","description":"A memoir of family, color, and being Black, white, and other in America, from a preeminent historian “Intimate and searching.” —Natasha Trethewey, New York Times–bestselling author of Memorial Drive Named a Best Book of the Year by Smithsonian • TIME Martha S. Jones grew up feeling her Black identity was obvious to all who saw her. But weeks into college, a Black Studies classmate challenged Jones’s right to speak. Suspicious of the color of her skin and the texture of her hair, he confronted her with a question that inspired a lifetime of introspection: “Who do you think you are?” Now a prizewinning scholar of Black history, Jones delves into her family’s past for answers. In every generation since her great-great-great-grandmother survived enslavement to raise a free family, color determined her ancestors’ lives. But the color line was shifting and jagged, not fixed and straight. Some backed away from it, others skipped along it, and others still were cut deep by its sharp teeth. Journeying across centuries, from rural Kentucky and small-town North Carolina to New York City and its suburbs, The Trouble of Color is a lyrical, deeply felt meditation on the most fundamental matters of identity, belonging, and family.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781541601000","publication_date":"20250304","publisher":"Basic Books","slug":"the-trouble-of-color","subtitle":"An American Family Memoir","title":"The Trouble of Color"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BIO002010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black & African American Lives","score":0.8164,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"YAN038110","confidence_band":"medium","label":"African American U.S. History for Teens","score":0.8028,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"LIT004040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Lit Crit","score":0.8008,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"BIO002010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black & African American Lives","score":0.8164,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"YAN038110","confidence_band":"medium","label":"African American U.S. History for Teens","score":0.8028,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"LIT004040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Lit Crit","score":0.8008,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BIO002010","confidence_band":"high","label":"Black & African American Lives","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036120","confidence_band":"high","label":"Southern U.S. History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC001000","confidence_band":"high","label":"African American Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Black & African American Lives","score":0.8164,"slug":"black-african-american-lives"},{"label":"African American U.S. History for Teens","score":0.8028,"slug":"african-american-u-s-history-for-teens"},{"label":"Black Lit Crit","score":0.8008,"slug":"black-lit-crit"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Black & African American Lives","Good for readers interested in civil rights","Good for fans of Memoir"],"related_lists":[{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-bio002010-african-american-black","title":"African American & Black Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-bio002010-african-american-black"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Imani Perry"],"book_id":"9780062977397","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062977397.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":17.2125,"title":"Black in Blues","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062977397"},{"authors":["Middleton A. 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