Language: R (53 swears, 2 “f”); Mature Content: PG ; Violence: PG-13 (implied sexual assault)
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
16yo Nevaeh Levitz has lived a loving life with her Black mother and Jewish father – until she doesn’t. Now she and Mom are living in Harlem with her grandparents and Dad has moved in his girlfriend. Life is now more than complicated. Mom has retreated into herself – an almost catatonic state. Her cousins aren’t very welcoming, because Nevaeh passes as white and attends an exclusive private school in the city. Her dad insists that she go through a bat Mitzvah, even though she is years older than the other students. When Nevaeh finds her mother’s journal in the attic, she learns a lot about her history and is determined to connect with her mother and help her over her trauma.
Diaz touches on so many important issues and weaves them all together with skill. None of them feel shoehorned in or just brushed over.
Love it.
While Nevaeh’s mother story does get a little explicit in one spot, that is a minor part in a very rewarding read. Actually, it is an important part – as it shows how a girl can find herself trapped doing something she definitely doesn’t want to, but does because she feels trapped and without options.
Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS
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