A teen girl hiding the scars of a past relationship finds home and healing in the words of strong Black writers. A beautiful sophomore novel from a critically acclaimed author and poet that explores how words have the power to shape and uplift our world even in the midst of pain.
"A true embodiment of the term Black Girl Magic.” –Booklist
When Darius told Angel he loved her, she believed him. But five weeks after the incident, Angel finds herself in Brooklyn, far from her family, from him, and from the California life she has known.
Angel feels out of sync with her new neighborhood. At school, she can’t shake the feeling everyone knows what happened—and that it was her fault. The only place that makes sense is Ms. G’s class. There, Angel’s classmates share their own stories of pain, joy, and fortitude. And as Angel becomes immersed in her revolutionary literature course, the words from Black writers like Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Zora Neale Hurston speak to her and begin to heal the wounds of her past.
This stunning novel weaves together prose, poems, and vignettes to tell the story of Angel, a young woman whose past was shaped by domestic violence but whose love of language and music and the gift of community grant her the chance to find herself again.
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**My thoughts**
After a traumatizing event involving her boyfriend, Angel's mother decides to move her across the country to stay with her uncle in Brooklyn.
She finds herself in a bit of culture shock because life in New York is markedly different than in Cali. But she also gets to enjoy a diverse collection of cultures as she gets to know her classmates and her neighborhood. I know I learned a lot, too, in this story that some have called a love letter to Brooklyn.
More importantly, Angel learns about herself. Her story is narrated in the present with several flashbacks along the way. Some of those flashbacks are repeated, but expanded for deeper reflection and understanding. It takes some time, but Angels does find herself and her niche and in ways that she hadn't anticipated.
I also loved all of the literary references as she is introduced to new books to read. Some of them I read a long time ago and need to rediscover. Others are new and have been added to my TBR.
Adding to the wonderful coming of age story is the poetic way the author expresses herself. One early quote that I loved was "The two of them chat in floral patterns, speaking warmly with the same words and tones that pepper the air of Flatbush, Brooklyn." This poetric prose adds to the beauty of this story that I highly recommend.
Thank you to the publisher for fulfilling my request via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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