Awards

• Winner of Schneider Family Book Award (Teen) 2024

Overview

I'm safe here. That's how Sadie feels in her girlfriend's arms on a perfect Summer day. But then her girlfriend suddenly breaks up with Sadie. Moments later, she witnesses a scene of police brutality, which upends what now feels like a mirage of security. I'm not safe anywhere. That's how Sadie feels every day after. So she retreats to her house. Her therapist gives her suffocating isolation a name-agoraphobia. Meanwhile, Sadie's best friend Evan updates her on the protests taking place outside. Sadie wants to be a part of it. But she can't. Or can she? I can build a safe place inside myself. This is what Sadie learns over the course of one life-changing summer, with some help from her family, her friends, an online platform for activists, and the swoon-worthy new boy who moved in next door.

Full Product Details

9780374388881

Table of Contents

Reviews

SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD WINNER A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year A Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults of the Year List Selection A Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 List Selection ""An outstanding novel in-verse that tells the story of a teenager's struggles to better both her mental health and her community. Lockington's approachable poetry covers heavy topics readers may find emotionally demanding--mental health, family dynamics, anti-Blackness, social activism, sexuality, social media, romance. The author elegantly and compassionately portrays Sadie's complicated, sensitive struggle with agoraphobia and depicts various realistic ways people might respond to the mental health of their loved ones."" --Shelf Awareness, starred review ""Nuanced depictions of intercommunity tensions--between Sadie's empathetic dad and her brusque mom, between her bold, activist, nonbinary best friend and her tentative, Black transracial adoptee new crush--help propel the narrative. Lockington's real achievement here, though, is the tenderness with which she captures the utter vulnerability, strength, and beauty of a 'sad, anxious Black girl.' Intimately and immensely powerful."" --Kirkus Reviews, starred review ""Black queer teen Sadie Dixon confronts police brutality while contending with her own mental health challenges in this lyrically written verse novel . . . Lockington steadily builds momentum via Sadie's sharply rendered and visceral voice, making for a devastating portrayal of--and compassionate look into--one teenager's struggles to better her mental health situation and her community."" --Publishers Weekly, starred review ""This novel-in-verse depicts a range of relevant struggles for Black girls: Sadie is painfully aware of a world that is both physically dying and politically corrupt, and she's furious that her generation is expected to save it even as the threat of racial violence means she could be the next person whose name gets chanted at protests. Notably, Lockington equally emphasizes Sadie's cherishing of sources of Black joy . . . Sadie is a character readers will root for as she overcomes her first heartbreak, advances with her therapy enough to attend the protest march, and finds her voice: 'I am a sad, anxious Black girl./ And all I have are these fists, / telling a fury tale.'"" --The Bulletin, starred review ""Lockington effectively mixes verse narration with social media posts to create an authentic teenage narrator. She thoughtfully explores mental health, sexuality (Sadie is bisexual), family, anti-Blackness, Black girl joy, and activism.'"" --Horn Book

Nuanced depictions of intercommunity tensions--between Sadie's empathetic dad and her brusque mom, between her bold, activist, nonbinary best friend and her tentative, Black transracial adoptee new crush--help propel the narrative. Lockington's real achievement here, though, is the tenderness with which she captures the utter vulnerability, strength, and beauty of a 'sad, anxious Black girl.' Intimately and immensely powerful. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review Black queer teen Sadie Dixon confronts police brutality while contending with her own mental health challenges in this lyrically written verse novel . . . Lockington steadily builds momentum via Sadie's sharply rendered and visceral voice, making for a devastating portrayal of--and compassionate look into--one teenager's struggles to better her mental health situation and her community. --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"""Nuanced depictions of intercommunity tensions--between Sadie's empathetic dad and her brusque mom, between her bold, activist, nonbinary best friend and her tentative, Black transracial adoptee new crush--help propel the narrative. Lockington's real achievement here, though, is the tenderness with which she captures the utter vulnerability, strength, and beauty of a 'sad, anxious Black girl.' Intimately and immensely powerful."" --Kirkus Reviews, starred review ""Black queer teen Sadie Dixon confronts police brutality while contending with her own mental health challenges in this lyrically written verse novel . . . Lockington steadily builds momentum via Sadie's sharply rendered and visceral voice, making for a devastating portrayal of--and compassionate look into--one teenager's struggles to better her mental health situation and her community."" --Publishers Weekly, starred review"

Nuanced depictions of intercommunity tensions--between Sadie's empathetic dad and her brusque mom, between her bold, activist, nonbinary best friend and her tentative, Black transracial adoptee new crush--help propel the narrative. Lockington's real achievement here, though, is the tenderness with which she captures the utter vulnerability, strength, and beauty of a 'sad, anxious Black girl.' Intimately and immensely powerful. --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD WINNER A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Year A Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 List Selection ""An outstanding novel in-verse that tells the story of a teenager's struggles to better both her mental health and her community. Lockington's approachable poetry covers heavy topics readers may find emotionally demanding--mental health, family dynamics, anti-Blackness, social activism, sexuality, social media, romance. The author elegantly and compassionately portrays Sadie's complicated, sensitive struggle with agoraphobia and depicts various realistic ways people might respond to the mental health of their loved ones."" --Shelf Awareness, starred review ""Nuanced depictions of intercommunity tensions--between Sadie's empathetic dad and her brusque mom, between her bold, activist, nonbinary best friend and her tentative, Black transracial adoptee new crush--help propel the narrative. Lockington's real achievement here, though, is the tenderness with which she captures the utter vulnerability, strength, and beauty of a 'sad, anxious Black girl.' Intimately and immensely powerful."" --Kirkus Reviews, starred review ""Black queer teen Sadie Dixon confronts police brutality while contending with her own mental health challenges in this lyrically written verse novel . . . Lockington steadily builds momentum via Sadie's sharply rendered and visceral voice, making for a devastating portrayal of--and compassionate look into--one teenager's struggles to better her mental health situation and her community."" --Publishers Weekly, starred review ""This novel-in-verse depicts a range of relevant struggles for Black girls: Sadie is painfully aware of a world that is both physically dying and politically corrupt, and she's furious that her generation is expected to save it even as the threat of racial violence means she could be the next person whose name gets chanted at protests. Notably, Lockington equally emphasizes Sadie's cherishing of sources of Black joy . . . Sadie is a character readers will root for as she overcomes her first heartbreak, advances with her therapy enough to attend the protest march, and finds her voice: 'I am a sad, anxious Black girl./ And all I have are these fists, / telling a fury tale.'"" --The Bulletin, starred review ""Lockington effectively mixes verse narration with social media posts to create an authentic teenage narrator. She thoughtfully explores mental health, sexuality (Sadie is bisexual), family, anti-Blackness, Black girl joy, and activism.'"" --Horn Book"

Author Information

Mariama J. Lockington is an adoptee, writer, and nonprofit educator. She has been telling stories and making her own books since the second grade, when she wore short-alls and flower leggings every day to school. She is the author of For Black Girls Like Me, her middle-grade debut, as well as a poetry chapbook The Lucky Daughter. Mariama holds a Masters in Education from Lesley University and Masters in Fine Arts in Poetry from San Francisco State University. She lives in Kentucky with her partner and dapple haired dachshund, Henry.

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