January 2021 reading starts with an INCREDIBLE read!
Shortest Summary Ever: Kezi Smith, a popular YouTube teen influencer, dies mysteriously and becomes a rallying case for a BLM-type movement. Kezi left behind a legacy and a family that wishes to preserve it, so sister Happi (who is anything BUT), older sister Genny , and Kezi’s bestie embark on a trip Kezi had planned out using the segregation-era Greenbook for Negro Motorists as a map. And then a crazy, life-altering ride begins.
Thoughts: There’s so much I need to discuss without giving spoilers. The book is amazing and completely unexpected. I loved it, I highly recommend it, and it’s honestly a mystery (if I wanted to define the genre) mixed with a deep social issue. The sister dynamic was explored exquisitely through Happi, who feels so much of what grief brings – guilt, sadness, worry, incredulity, while battling through a black-sheep-strained relationship with her pastor parents. This struck home with me as I had 12 years of parochial schooling jammed into me. Happi is pure rebellion – questioning, asking, wondering – all of it related to so much of my personal journey. With sharp writing and these intricate characters, the Moulites weave a tale that’s a patchwork of pure genius.
The issue is that (for me) the twist changed the focus and I think it missed a chance to be truly POIGNANT. That twist, in my opinion made this less about treatment by police because it went to a place that was rare and isolated and not likely. Had it kept with the narrative? Like I said – poignant, the book I want to teach my middle schoolers. I respect the angle – it’s different than anything I saw coming and I enjoyed the book IMMENSELY, but that twist – I’d like to take that part out and keep it grounded in reality delving into the whole “good ones “ mentality where if you are black you are either a “good one” – good student, kind, no issues or a “thug” – in trouble, okay for society to ignore.
You have to read it so we can talk!
Genre: Mystery/Contemporary Fiction
Recommend to: All my middle schoolers, those looking for something new and different.
Not recommended to: If you’re burned out on current issues like BLM, LGBTQ issues, or particularly religiously sensitive.
Thank you to the authors, NetGalley, and Inkyard Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for days and days of pondering an thinking over this one. Well done.
