And while Makani’s secret and the killer’s hidden identity might keep the pages turning, this is less a psychological thriller and more a study in gore. Graphic violence and bloody mayhem saturate this high-speed slasher story. However, the charming and incredibly shy Ollie, a white boy with hot-pink hair, a lip ring, and wanderlust, provides an excellent distraction from the horror and fear. As the only half–African-American and half–Native Hawaiian student in her school, she already stands out, but as the killing spree continues, the press descends, and rumors fly, Makani is increasingly nervous that her past will be exposed. She has developed a crush and made some friends, but a dark secret keeps her from truly opening up to those around her. Senior Makani Young has been living in corn-obsessed Nebraska for just a little over a year. Most freeze in fear, but a brave few try to stop the killings. Someone is murdering high school students. Whiteness is situated as the norm, and all main characters are white. McSmith places repeated emphasis on the born-in-the-wrong-body narrative when the characters discuss trans identities. The characters only arrive at a hopeful resolution after Pony pays high physical and emotional prices. Meanwhile, Georgia and Pony behave as if Pony’s trans identity was a secret he was lying to her about rather than private information for him to share of his own volition. Pony’s best friend, Max, who is also transgender, disapproves of Pony’s choice to live stealth this disagreement leads to serious conflict in their relationship. As mutual attraction draws them together, Pony and Georgia must decide what they are willing to risk for a relationship. Georgia’s last boyfriend shook her trust in boys, and now she’s determined to forget him. No one at Hillcrest High knows that Pony is transgender, and he intends to keep it that way. They both have pasts they want to leave behind. On the first day of senior year, transgender boy Pony locks eyes with cisgender cheerleader Georgia. This straightforward approach lends legitimacy to the novel’s final act, one that in lesser hands would come off as over-the-top pulp nonsense.Ī smartly plotted examination of the despair that keeps people in their places and the hope that pulls them out of it.Ī transgender boy starting over at a new school falls hard for a popular cheerleader with a reputation to protect in this debut. There’s a journalistic “just the facts” approach here that greatly appeals. The novel has very little humor, but it doesn’t dwell in the maudlin either. Lincoln and Jakub are both distinct, fully formed characters who are supported by a cast of characters that bring out different facets of their personalities and also exemplify how different support systems shape perspective and attitude. The cyclical nature of poverty and despair is a running theme here, ever present and honestly portrayed. ![]() As their lives separate for the first time the two boys face different challenges on their own, and the author smartly assays how even the smallest of choices can lead toward destruction and self-sabotage. Meanwhile, Jakub gets a free ride to the fancy private school across town. When Lincoln’s brother Henry returns from prison, Lincoln is slowly pulled into Henry’s gang, the Red Bloodz. The two friends enjoy going out at night and tagging their neighborhood as Morf and Skar. ![]() Two impoverished teens drift along different paths.įifteen-year-olds Jakub Kaminsky (white, the son of a Polish-immigrant single father) and Lincoln Bear (a brown-skinned First Nations boy whose family lives off the reservation) are making the best of their small lives.
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