Juliana Goodman

Juliana Goodman places a young artist at the center of grief, friendship, and public scrutiny in The Black Girls Left Standing. Beau lives in Chicago and is preparing for a future built around her drawing when her older sister Katia dies during an encounter with an off-duty officer. A missing witness may know what happened, but Beau's search also exposes fractures among relatives and friends who mourn differently. Feiwel and Friends introduced Goodman's young fiction debut to readers in 2022. The book connects Beau's artistic attention to her investigation: looking closely can reveal details, yet it cannot make every person interpret the same event alike. Goodman keeps family and neighborhood relationships in view as Beau decides which memories to protect and which questions she must continue asking. The result gives creative ambition, sisterhood, and accountability equal narrative weight.