Author: Mahogany L. Browne
Genre: verse novel
Similar books: Being Toffee by Sarah Crossan
A Girl Named Mister by Nikki Grimes
Rating:
Summary (provided by publisher): She looks me hard in my eyes
& my knees lock into tree trunks
My eyes don't dance like my heartbeat racing
They stare straight back hot daggers.
I remember things will never be the same.
I remember things.
With gritty and heartbreaking honesty, Mahogany L. Browne delivers a novel-in-verse about broken promises, fast rumors, and when growing up means growing apart from your best friend.
My opinion: A good verse novel is compelling, even if you don't understand the meaning of every single line. Poetry is like that, speaking truth through it's general sense and rhythm as much as through the actual words. There were lines that I didn't really get, especially when they used modern slang. It served to build the character even if it didn't add a lot of new information. Browne really captures the confusion and conflict of being a teenage girl, of realizing that you are changing in different ways than your best friend and may not have much in common any more. The twin desires for all forms of attention and wanting to be left alone. Especially the line between relishing in a boy's attention and when that attention becomes toxic. This narrative is especially interesting since we see the growing distance between friends and how a confrontation with a boy can either drive them permanently apart or draw them back together.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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