e-Audio, 09:32:02
Narrated by: Christopher Ian Grant
Release Date: August 1, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: August 2-3, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: PRH App (#PenguinPartner! I also received an ARC of this book from the publisher. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Violence, Fight, Racism, Racial Slur
For Readers Interested In: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Robotics, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, YAIn this powerful and fast-paced YA contemporary debut, a Black teen from Brooklyn struggles to fit in at his almost entirely-white Manhattan prep school, resulting in a fight and a plan for vengeance.
This is not how seventeen-year-old Gil imagined beginning his senior year—on the subway dressed in a tie and khakis headed towards Manhattan instead of his old public school in Brooklyn. Augustin Prep may only be a borough away, but the exclusive private school feels like it’s a different world entirely compared to Gil’s predominately Caribbean neighborhood in Brooklyn.
If it weren’t for the partial scholarship, the school’s robotic program and the chance for a better future, Gil wouldn’t have even considered going. Then after a racist run-in with the school’s golden boy on the first day ends in a fight that leaves only Gil suspended, Gil understands the truth about his new school—Augustin may pay lip service to diversity, but that isn’t the same as truly accepting him and the other Black students as equal. But Gil intends to leave his mark on Augustin anyway.
If the school isn’t going to carve out a space for him, he will carve it out for himself. Using Sun Tzu’s The Art of War as his guide, Gil wages his own clandestine war against the racist administration, parents and students, and works with the other Black students to ensure their voices are finally heard. But the more enmeshed Gil becomes in school politics, the more difficult it becomes to balance not only his life at home with his friends and family, but a possible new romance with a girl he’d move mountains for. In the end, his war could cost him everything he wants the most.
*MY THOUGHTS*
When I got this in the mail from Penguin I was so excited to read it. I didn’t know anything about it besides the fact that there was a Black kid on the cover and there was a Jamaican flag on it as well. And that was all I needed. No I’m not Jamaican, but that was why I was so excited. I love reading and learning about new cultures. So I’m guessing this is why Penguin thought to send me this. And I couldn’t be more happy.
With realistic fiction, it’s always easiest for me to talk about the characters first. So the main character is Gil. Though he’s a guy and he was 17 in the book, I related to him so hard. I went to a school like Gil’s when I was in middle school. It was like 2 of “us” (y’all know what I mean) in our whole grade level. I ran into a couple of instances like Gil as well, yes during elementary. And the internal struggles he went through about leaving his friends and leaving his hood behind, I knew all about that too. (Granted mine was from daycare, but I still felt like I was the only person who didn’t go to the same school as they did.) So basically, I related to him so well. And because of that it made me fall in love with this book.
Now everyone else in this book was terrible. I’m not even going to lie. Like they were so bad I wanted to beat those other kids and just give him a hug. And don’t get me started on the adults. I don’t know they were on, well besides racism, but money or not these are also kids. I hate that they don’t look at our boys as kids like they do everyone else. And that whole robotics thing really pissed me off. Like at one point I was being petty and was willing him to go re-break the code and just tell them to fix it since that’s what ol dude can just do it. But things all worked out, but I was mad they had to get there in the first place if that makes sense.
The reason I didn’t give this a higher rating though was because the entire story can be found in the synopsis. The only reason I still ended up reading this was because I don’t read synopsis anymore for this very reason. Otherwise while I was reading it, it just felt like the pacing was off a little. Like everything was happening on top of each other at the end. And it made it a bit confusing for me. I had to go back and re-listen at some points. Especially with his grandma. Because HOW DID SHE JUST LEAVE. I was terrified when I was reading that.
This book was truly realistic. From the way he was to his friends, to the way he was with a potential love interest, to the way he was when he was getting angry with the administration. Like I said I’ve been through many of those same things myself. I truly felt bad for him and I really just wanted to give him a hug. Those people were so terrible to him and really didn’t deserve his genius on his their robotics team.
This book was nothing more than the truth in words. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a story that happened to him before. I just hope that if it did, he got all he wanted and needed in the end as well.
Overall, I give this
