Kristal Brent Zook

A powerful memoir about a woman’s odyssey for connection, self-identity, and love.

Kristal Brent Zook’s coming-of-age memoir is a thought-provoking tale of triumph outdistancing pain, of never giving up on love and hope despite childhood traumas and a broken family. Kristal writes so beautifully and urgently. The Girl in the Yellow Poncho will absolutely absorb you.

In this intimate and generous memoir, Kristal Brent Zook explores the complexities of her past and the consummation of her present as a biracial daughter of a white father who left and the Black mother and grandmother who raised her.

Zook recalls a childhood haunted by her missing father—and complicated by his return. A brave, heart-stirring memoir.

Kristal Brent Zook’s memoir is a wrenching, riveting and luminous coming-of-age story about what it means to grow up biracial. Her journey reads like a multigenerational tale woven by strong biracial and Black women—in this case, the daughters, mothers and grandmothers of Zook’s family. With grace and generosity, Zook offers a universal testament to the power of forgiveness and healing—and the strength found through discovering one’s authentic identity. At a time when we often feel lost, this memoir reveals what it means to be found.

Kristal Brent Zook has written an honest, illuminating look at her life, loves and culture.

Kristal is blessed with genuine intellectual curiosity, along with the instincts and drive of an old-fashioned reporter. Both her and her work are truly special.

Kristal has a good ear, a calm manner, and high expectations. She knows exactly what works on the page and why.

Brilliantly capturing the complexities of contemporary Black women’s experiences, The Girl in the Yellow Poncho is the most riveting, compelling memoir I have read.

We value her commitment to taking on even the most difficult stories in the interest of serious journalism.

Kristal’s story touched me deeply. It will touch everyone who has struggled with feeling the ‘in-betweenness’ that propels her riveting heroine’s journey to define herself and create the family for which she yearned. The writing is as powerful as the message: love ultimately triumphs.

After thirty years of reporting, Kristal Brent Zook has turned inward to write a deeply personal, frank, and inspirational story about race and class.