July 1, 2021
Gr 7 Up-On Kezi Smith's 18th birthday, she was excited to attend her first in-person social justice rally after building a large YouTube following from videos sharing her thoughts about social justice. Kezi is arrested at the rally, then dies as a result of police brutality, and the book slowly reveals what happened that day. As they continue to mourn Kezi, her parents reluctantly give their two other daughters, Genny and Happi, permission to travel Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles, stopping along the way to visit locations identified by Kezi in the Negro Motorist Green Book and providing updates and historical information for Kezi's YouTube channel. One of the stops is the bridge where their great-grandfather was lynched when his family ran out of gas in a sundown town. Throughout the journey, Happi learns more about her sister and struggles with the distance she had placed between them that she always hoped would be fixed with more time. In addition to Kezi's and Happi's perspectives, readers also hear from the girls' grandmother, Evelyn, and from another young girl in L.A., Shaqueria, who is trying to make it as an actress. Bahni Turpin, Jordan Cobb, and Carolyn Smith narrate the multiple voices in the novel making each one instantly recognizable as they take turns. VERDICT A powerfully engaging read that gives voice to a variety of Black female experiences and provides not only a modern perspective but also the history that influences lives today. Recommendation to purchase both print and audiobook versions.-Courtney Pentland, Omaha, NE
Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
December 1, 2020
Grades 9-12 Kezi died in police custody on her eighteenth birthday after attending a peaceful protest in downtown L.A. with her girlfriend, Ximena. Three months later, Kezi's sisters, Happi and Genny, take a road trip along with Ximena and their friend Derek in her memory. Kezi planned the trip for herself, intending to follow Route 66 and to stop at sites in an old Negro Motorist Green Book as a way of sharing her passion for African American history with her devoted YouTube followers. She also planned stops significant to their family history, including the sundown town where their great-grandfather was lynched. Chapters move back and forth between time periods and narrators, highlighting Kezi, Happi, and in the 1940s, Great-Gran Evelyn. A surprising twist toward the end of the novel adds excitement but stretches the plot's credibility. Coincidences and a compulsion to educate stall this sophomore outing by sister authors, but it's propelled by strong characterizations, and its central theme resonates: that the value of a Black life should not depend on being "one of the good ones."
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