An engaging, innovative critique of the systems that protect whiteness and rob Black girls of their innocence.
A teen springs into action after her friend vanishes at a music festival in Atlanta.
Like her grandmother, Sariyah Bryant, a Black high school senior, inherited the ability to sense people’s needs. Unfortunately, her powers exact a toll—if Sariyah doesn’t fulfill these wishes or physically distance herself from the person, she experiences acute migraines. That’s why she never goes anywhere without her Santa Bag: a duffel brimming with everyday items to give out. When a grateful woman she once helped gifts her four tickets to Afro Alt Music Festival, Sariyah’s ecstatic. Alongside best friend Malcolm, new friend Deja, and love interest Jude, she immerses herself in the festival’s atmosphere of positivity and creativity—until it all comes crashing down. Deja disappears from the grounds, igniting a frantic search that unearths multiple suspects and tests Sariyah’s hope. As Sariyah and her community work to bring Deja back home, she realizes her friends are keeping shocking secrets. Desamours’ debut spotlights an emotionally complex hero who’s painfully aware of the social inequities and injustices that affect Black girlhood. Sariyah’s mother has depression, and the depiction of mental health struggles is handled with realism and cultural sensitivity. The author portrays Sariyah’s relationship with her brother, who has sickle cell disease, with tenderness. Readers will be thoroughly surprised by the unexpected conclusion.
An engaging, innovative critique of the systems that protect whiteness and rob Black girls of their innocence. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781250334817
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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