Author: Tiffany D. Jackson
Genre: horror
Similar books: Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams
Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide
Rating:
.JPG)
An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.
After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life.
But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret . . . one that will cost them all their lives.
My opinion: Let's get the obvious out of the way first - this is clearly inspired by Carrie. The book even acknowledges the parallels. It just goes far beyond the idea of a cowed girl pushed past her breaking point. It asks us to consider if there is any understandable excuse for an act of violence. It asks us to consider all forms of racism and the ways that they destroy. It asks us to consider how expectations are different based on gender, all forms of privilege and oppression. The things we fear and the freedom that comes with giving them a platform. And ultimately, what true justice looks like. This is not a comfortable read. There is stark violence and truly gruesome imagery. And the level of introspection it asks of us can make a person uneasy. But it's absolutely worth it.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
No comments:
Post a Comment