Overview

Kackie Aiken is seventeen, sharp-tongued, and ready to leave Mandeville behind. After a summer in New York City, she returns home convinced she has outgrown her small town-and the small minds she has always blamed for its limits. But when her teacher partners her with Walt Singletary, a new Black student at Mandeville's primarily white prep school, Kackie is pulled into a project on the Civil Rights Movement that refuses to stay in the past. Set against the backdrop of historic Mandeville's tricentennial celebration, the story unfolds under the menacing gaze of Mayor Tommy Cooper, whose influence seeps into the school, the streets, and the silence that holds the town together. As Kackie and Walt seek out the truth, hostility intensifies in the classroom and beyond. Old loyalties strain. New affections complicate everything. And the deeper Kackie looks, the more she realizes the history her family avoided is still shaping who gets protected, who gets blamed, and who gets to belong. Nobody Wants to Remember is a soulful and heartbreaking coming-of-age story about confession and repentance, even when they cost what you most hold dear; and about how, especially for Kackie and Walt, the truth may not always set you free.

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Reviews

""I loved this book. I couldn't put it down, and when I did, I couldn't wait to pick it back up... it's not enough to just be not racist, but that they have to be anti-racist."" - Audrey, high school student ""I have laughed out loud, wept like a baby, searched my heart... and ready for book #2!"" - Ellen, college student ""This is a work full of humanity, honesty, and beauty ... we not only find a gripping reminder of our great need for social repair, but also the rich rewards that await those who take up this work."" - Russ, pastor and entrepreneur ""The story sucked me in ... Bravo! Can't wait for book two!"" - Jenny, mother of teenage daughter ""I am a mixed high school girl ... This book allows the space for white people to feel anger, sadness, and passion towards racial injustice rather than just guilt..."" - Sophie, high school student ""What a beautiful book! It is redemptive without ever being trite or self-righteous... so glad you left potential and anticipation for a sequel!"" - Lynn, licensed therapist, grandmother ""One of the most moving, educational, well-written books I've ever read... I want to know what happened to Walt and Kackie?!"" - Amanda, mother of two teenagers ""I finished the novel last night (basically binge-read it)... I want my children to read this book."" - Clay, father of three teenagers

Author Information

Courtney McLean Thompson spent the last decade in a town you will not find on a map and befriending people who are not in the public record. She listened to them, learned from them, grieved and hoped with them, and wrote their story in her debut novel, Nobody Wants to Remember. Courtney began writing as an act of protest to showcase the systemic and abiding wounds of our common life while also casting a vision for how we might heal the communities we share. When she is not writing, Courtney (along with her husband) can be found in Virginia raising four real characters and daydreaming about her fictional ones. She holds degrees in Journalism and Theology.

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