With Love, Miss Americanah
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A girl moves from Nigeria to America and navigates her senior year with the help of teen movies and a new crush, in this story described as "the next coming-of-age hit, perfect for fans of Jenny Han" by Booklist in a starred review!
Enore Adesuwa doesn’t dive into things, she walks in carefully. So when she, her mother, and her sister move from Nigeria shortly after her father’s death, she wants to be extremely prepared before attending high school in America. Her cousin doesn’t have time to explain the ins and outs to her but, luckily, he recommends the perfect research tool: teen movies.
Still dealing with grief but armed with a set of rules of survival gathered from these movies (including the crucial rule of keeping a low profile), Enore is ready for her senior year. But when she meets Davi Santiago, it may be much harder than she thought to keep to her rules. Because not only is he super thoughtful (and okay, very good looking), he constantly encourages her to share her incredible singing talent. Enore prefers the background but it just might be time for her to take center stage, even in spite of her mother’s strict expectations.
It would be easier to follow all the rules, the ones Enore set for herself and the ones her mom imposes, but as every teen movie has taught her, a coming-of-age is nothing without a little rebellion. And with help from her crush, her sister, and some new friends who don’t quite play the roles she expects, Enore’s senior year might indeed be cinematic!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Nigerian teen struggles to acclimate to life in America in this endearing character-focused novel. Following her father's death, 17-year-old Enore Adesuwa, her mother, and her younger sister emigrate from Nigeria to Hudson Valley. Hoping to avoid feeling like a fish out of water and teach herself how to navigate American high school, Enora watches classic teen movies given to her by her cousin. Using what she learns from movies such as Sixteen Candles and Mean Girls, Enore establishes a list of rules she's certain will ensure her survival. Yet she promptly breaks rule #1 ("Avoid interacting with or befriending anyone who is popular") when she meets football player Davi Santiago, a Brazilian American classmate with whom she bonds over their cultural differences and similarities. When Davi persuades Enore to audition for the school's upcoming production of "Cinderella," she agrees. Things get complicated after she aces her audition and lands the lead role, an accomplishment she must hide from her mother, who wants Enore to focus on academics. Focusing on both the joy and grief associated with drastic change, Igharo employs lush prose that eschews didacticism and deftly balances high school romance, cultural traditions, and the importance of representation in this confident debut. Ages 14–up.
