Wander in the Dark by Jumata Emill - OPTIONAL

Wander in the Dark by Jumata Emill, 400 pages. Random House Children's/Delacorte Press, 2024. $17 

Language: R (154 swears 64 'f'); Mature Content: PG-13 (drugs, underage drinking, talk of hooking up); Violence: PG-13 (bloody death and violence) 

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL 

APPEALS TO SOME 

17yo Amir is accused of murder and his 16yo brother Marcel is determined to prove Amir’s innocence. One of their classmates was murdered in her home and Amir has been placed under house arrest under suspicious circumstances. Living in New Orleans, Amir and Marcel both attend a private school because their family wants the best for them. Being Black, they’re a minority in their mostly white, rich high school. When the girl is murdered, the white community immediately blames Amir but when horrible secrets are revealed, the tables turn. 

The bad grammar representing the local community in the book is annoying but necessary to the setting of the story. I like the strong loyalty between the brothers, Marcel and Amir. The mystery was enjoyable to read. The ethnicity is a white and Black community. 

LynnDell Watson, DHS Librarian