by Uzodinma Iweala
narrated by Prentice Onayemi, Julia Whelan
Find out more about this book and author:
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BookExcerpt
Published: 2018
Publisher: Harper Collins
Genre: Literary, LGBTQ
Hardback: 224
Rating: 4
First sentence(s):
The snow starts to fall just before Ms. McConnell’s Global Literatures class.
A revelation shared between two privileged teenagers from very different backgrounds sets off a chain of events with devastating consequences.
On the surface, Niru leads a charmed life. Raised by two attentive parents in Washington, D.C., he’s a top student and a track star at his prestigious private high school. Bound for Harvard in the fall, his prospects are bright. But Niru has a painful secret: he is queer—an abominable sin to his conservative Nigerian parents. No one knows except Meredith, his best friend, the daughter of prominent Washington insiders—and the one person who seems not to judge him.
When his father accidentally discovers Niru is gay, the fallout is brutal and swift. Coping with troubles of her own, however, Meredith finds that she has little left emotionally to offer him. As the two friends struggle to reconcile their desires against the expectations and institutions that seek to define them, they find themselves speeding toward a future more violent and senseless than they can imagine. Neither will escape unscathed.
My two-bits:
This was an unfortunate tale of the African American plight in America with a Nigerian perspective in regards to racism and sexuality. Although one has a feeling of what is coming in this story, the impact hits hard.
* Listened to audiobook version.
* part of the Tournament of Books 2019 (here)
