When You Look Like Us
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وصف الناشر
“A high-speed story that will draw teens in and keep them turning pages until they reach the unpredictable and thrilling ending. A must for YA collections.” (School Library Journal)
A 2022 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work nominee and a 2022 Edgar Award nominee, this timely, gripping teen novel is about a boy who must take up the search for his sister when she goes missing from a neighborhood where Black girls’ disappearances are too often overlooked, from debut author Pamela Harris. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Tiffany D. Jackson.
When you look like us—brown skin, brown eyes, black braids or fades—everyone else thinks you’re trouble. No one even blinks twice over a missing Black girl from public housing because she must’ve brought whatever happened to her upon herself. I, Jay Murphy, can admit that, for a minute, I thought my sister Nicole just got caught up with her boyfriend—a drug dealer—and his friends. But she’s been gone too long. Nic, where are you?
If I hadn’t hung up on her that night, she would be at our house, spending time with Grandma.
If I was a better brother, she’d be finishing senior year instead of being another name on a missing persons list.
It’s time to step up, to do what the Newport News police department won’t.
Bring her home.
Also a 2022 ALA Notable Book for a Global Society Award winner!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After their father died of cancer and their mother was sent to prison for driving under the influence, Jay Murphy and his sister, Nic, who is older by a year, were sent to live with their grandmother in the Ducts, a public housing complex in Newport News, Va. Now 16, Jay juggles the stresses of high school, the odd jobs he's working to secretly save up for his grandmother's retirement, and being Nic's keeper. After years of covering for Nic whenever she's high on bliss, a drug she receives from her neighborhood drug dealer boyfriend, Jay decides he is done worrying about Nic and trying to get her back on the right path. His resolve, though, breaks down when Nic disappears and the police dismiss his concern, considering Nic just another missing Black girl in their county and a "blisshead" besides. Harris unapologetically gives voice to the grief that a community can feel when the law fails them, as well as their need to, instead, rely on the hope, love, and power they bring to one another. The strength and endurance of the Black family reverberate throughout this achingly honest debut. Ages 14–up.
