Praise for Number’s Up

  • "In Number's Up, Matthews Levi comes face-to-face with family secrets that fundamentally change her understanding of the lives of her late Jewish mother and Black father. A poignant, sweeping story that reveals universal truths about family, love, abuse, race, and the blurred line between the personal and the systemic, this memoir will change the way readers see the world—and their own family's place in it."

    — Andrew Maraniss, New York Times bestselling author of Strong Inside

  • “Johnisha Matthews Levi has given us a captivating family story that humanizes the hustle of those who ran the numbers. In this deeply researched memoir, she honors her complicated and complex parents with equal parts gratitude and candor, revealing how their making a way out of no way paved the way for her to thrive. A beautiful tribute. I couldn't put this book down."

    — Bridgett M. Davis, author of New York Times Editor's Choice The World According to Fannie Davis and Love, Rita

  • “Through her brilliant storytelling, Levi highlights themes of identity, resilience, forgiveness, and love. She tells a story of hope in the face of uncertainty and provides readers with a book that reveals the human spirit's capacity for healing and growth. Number's Up is more than a simple memoir or family history; it is a story of discovery and an intercessory prayer of thanksgiving and grace for an American family."

    — Dr. Learotha Williams Jr., coeditor of I'll Take You There: Exploring Nashville's Social Justice Sites