This Town Is on Fire
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From the critically acclaimed author of When You Look Like Us comes a page-turning YA contemporary novel about what happens when the latest “Becky” on the internet is your best friend.
A lot is up in the air in Naomi Henry’s life: her spot as a varsity cheer flier, her classmates’ reaction to the debut of her natural hair, and her crush on the guy who’s always been like a brother to her. With so much uncertainty, she feels lucky to have a best friend like Kylie to keep her grounded. After all, they’re practically sisters—Naomi’s mom took care of Kylie and her twin brother for years.
But then a video of Kylie calling the cops on two Black teens in a shopping store parking lot goes viral. Naomi is shaken, and her town is reeling from the publicity. While Naomi tries to reckon with Kylie, the other Black students in their high school are questioning their friendship, and her former friends are wondering where this new “woke” Naomi came from. Although Naomi wants to stand by her best friend, she now can’t help but see everything in a different light.
As tensions in her town escalate, Naomi finds herself engaging in protests that are on the cusp of being illegal. And then a bomb explodes, and someone is found dead. Will Naomi be caught in the center of the blast?
Golden Kite Award winner Pamela N. Harris has crafted a taut novel that delves into big issues, and is the perfect next read for fans of I’m Not Dying with You Tonight and The Black Kids.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
By highlighting issues of economic disparity, racism, and white privilege, Harris (When You Look Like Us) weaves a nuanced social narrative in which a Black teenager is forced to reckon with her white best friend's racist actions. Black 17-year-old Naomi Henry has accepted the fact that her Windsor Woods hometown was the kind of place where "my neighbors were going to rock their Confederate flag T-shirts and hug their Black friends at the same damn time." Despite her peers' blatant racism, however, Windsor Woods has always been home, and her white best friend Kylie Brooks has always been like family. But when a video of Kylie calling the cops on two Black teens goes viral, tensions between Naomi's peers begin to boil over. Finding herself caught in the middle, Naomi begins to examine how race plays a part in her relationships with her family, friends, and herself. Harris employs complex depictions of Naomi's relationship with Kylie, whom her mother used to nanny, alongside Kylie's parents' expectation that Naomi will side with them as their community grows more divided, admirably showcasing Naomi's struggle to balance her perceived loyalties amid tumultuous internal and external conflict. Ages 14–up.
