My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich

Dr. Carol Marcus, an elite scientist from Star Trek, calls Genesis “life from lifelessness,” but the tool can only work on a place, person, or thing already dead. When humans decimate everything with their Sonic Boom, they’ll need the Genesis Device.

On July 4, in her room, Ebony-Grace hears lots of booming. She also hears Monique calling for her, but Ebony-Grace wants to call Granddaddy. Uncle Rich is on the phone with a “lady friend.” Once it’s her turn to use the phone, the Nine Flava Crew storm into her home and ask her to help them battle the Sonic Boom. Ebony-Grace agrees to help the girls.

Rum Raisin Rhonda is upset the crew didn’t vote on Ebony-Grace’s membership. Mango Megan says they had no choice. The crew they’re battling has 10 people, so they need 10 people to be even. Monique says the other crew has 10 good members: When Ebony-Grace breakdances, she looks like a chicken wing. Ebony-Grace rolls her eyes with attitude, causing Monique to praise her “flava.” Coconut Collette insults Ebony-Grace’s style, and Monique says her hair looks like a bushy place in Central Park where “the bums” won’t even go. Ebony-Grace says Monique looks like the first baby of Valkris (a woman Klingon) and Commander Kluge (a male Klingon). Monique has no idea what she’s talking about.

Calvin arrives with Pablo Jones (PJ), and the girls can’t believe Pablo is a part of Calvin’s crew. With Pablo on Calvin’s team, it’ll be hard to beat them. The girls make fun of Bianca’s alleged crush on Pablo, and Ebony-Grace calls Pablo as famous as Michael Jackson.

The girls argue with the boys about practicing in their spot, but the boys persist. Calvin asks a boy for a beat, and then he starts to rap. As Pablo starts to rap, Rhonda reminds the boys that they’re not Run-DMC. Also, the contest is for breakdancing and double-Dutch, not rapping. Calvin says rap and breaking is for men. Monique mentions Roxanne Shanté and Baby Love (the only woman member of the Rock Steady hip-hop and breaking crew). Calvin puts down Rock Steady for letting in a “girl.” He swears the Genesis Ten (the name of his crew) will never let a girl join.

After Pablo raps, Ebony-Grace asks about the name, and Pablo confirms that it’s a Star Trek reference. She also realizes Pablo’s last name, Jupiter, references the planet. After Bianca raps, she and Pablo show off their breaking skills, and the girls acknowledge Pablo’s talent and potential for stardom. Bianca claims she can be better, and Ebony-Grace notes that Bianca called herself “Bianca Pluto” in her rap, but she only did it for the rhymes. 

Ebony-Grace goes to Daddy’s shop, where there are people who look like Lester, people who look like her dad, and women criticizing her appearance.

At home, she speaks to Granddaddy. She wants to hear about Captain Fleet and the Sonic King, but Granddaddy wonders if she’s making friends or repelling people with her outer space narrative. He reminds her of the Prime Directive: Respect what people are already doing and try to understand it. She doesn’t have to abandon her imagination, but space drama doesn’t have a monopoly on imagination. People in Harlem don’t “have time” for outer space. Growing up in Harlem, he wanted to build cars, not spaceships. Next time he sees his granddaughter, he wants her to teach him how to break. He also wired some money to Daddy so she can come home for a weekend and visit him.

Ebony-Grace tells Daddy about the plan, but Daddy dismisses it: Momma doesn’t want her to return yet. He tells her to get food from the woman, Ms. Fuller, across the street. He leaves, and an envelope falls from his pocket. It has a Western Union slip and $300. Ebony-Grace assumes it’s Granddaddy’s money. She attributes her grandpa’s withdrawal from the space drama to the sonic boom, and she promises to rescue Captain Fleet.

She runs into Pablo, and they agree that the fire hydrant looks like R2-D2, but Pablo would call it FT for Fire Trooper—a Star Wars reference. Ebony-Grace wonders if the Genesis Device can work in New York, and Pablo thinks it can. She tells him she’s not from Planet No Joke City—she’s King Sirius Julius’s prisoner. Pablo says Ebony-Grace’s dad is a good king, helping people like Bianca and her grandma.

The Nine Flavas arrive and pull Ebony-Grace away from Pablo and warn her that he’s Bianca’s “man.” Ebony-Grace stares at Bianca. She thought Bianca was going to help her. Bianca says she is trying to help her. The girls cheer on Bianca, and Ebony-Grace realizes that Bianca is Monique’s First Officer—the second most important person in the crew. The girls divert their attention to Daddy, who hooks up the sound system.

The noise from the system and DJ Jule Thief (Daddy) consumes Ebony-Grace. He scratches the records and shouts out his daughter. The neighborhood cheers him on like he’s the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. Ebony-Grace stays near Daddy’s gate. Monique tries to coax her out, but Ebony-Grace claims she’s a prisoner. Monique says Ebony-Grace doesn’t have a clue about prison—her cousin is in jail. No one is stopping Ebony-Grace but her.

Daddy announces the start of the contest between the Genesis Five (led by Pablo Jupiter) and Cold Crush Calvin and the Fresh Four. Diane says they’re supposed to be one team, and they should battle the Nine Flavas Crew. Diane tells Daddy that they split up on purpose to get the prize money regardless of who wins. Daddy tells them to wait for the double-Dutch contest, but the Nine Flavas want to rap and breakdance. Daddy tells them they can compete in the contest against another girl crew.

The girls pressure Ebony-Grace to do something: Her dad isn’t being fair. Ebony-Grace has a plan. She’ll distract the Sonic King and his minions so the Nine Flavas can perform. She screams at Daddy, but he doesn’t listen, so she jumps onto an empty cardboard and starts breaking. Daddy yells at her, the Nine Flavas scream at her, and the audience boos her. Daddy declares the contest a tie.

Ebony-Grace chases after Pablo, who’s upset: He wanted to battle Bianca—he wants to join Bianca’s crew. Ebony-Grace doesn’t think that’s likely. She thinks they should form their own crew—a space crew. Pablo wonders if there’s room to break on the spacecraft.

The two go to the back of the shop where Daddy keeps the junk he buys from people. Ebony-Grace says everything is dead: They could use the Genesis Device. Pablo thinks everything is alive. He claims breaking doesn’t mean broken. Pablo doesn’t think their community needs fixing. Maybe the affluent neighborhoods need the Genesis Device to learn what it’s like to be alive.

Daddy asks Ebony-Grace if she found a white envelope. She lies and says she didn’t. She then hears people insulting Daddy.

When Ebony-Grace was younger, Granddaddy told her about the 1970 Apollo 13 mission. The astronauts were supposed to go to the moon again, but an oxygen tank exploded, so the astronauts had to come back to Earth. The day before the Apollo 13 crisis, the Beatles broke up. Nana was out, and Granddaddy had the house to himself, and he “blasted” Sly and the Family Stone and danced. The takeaway: Something went wrong. A tiny puzzle piece backfired, and it could’ve killed the astronauts.