This is All Your Fault

August 10, 2020
A trio of unlikely friends rally their Chicago community to save a beloved independent bookstore in Safi’s (Tell Me How You Really Feel) quirky offering. When the staff of Wild Nights Bookstore and Emporium discovers that the shop is closing in just two weeks, they each try to find a way to prevent its going under, from flipping $9,000 worth of Air Jordans to crunching suspicious inventory numbers and breaking the strictly enforced “no photography, no phones” rule. The store unites its teenage co-workers: bubbly bookstagrammer Rinn Olivera, who is biracial (of Mexican and German descent), is perpetually camera ready; sarcastic bleached blonde Daniella Korres, who is white, secretly shares poetry online; and Lebanese American Imogen Azar is adept at hiding her inner turmoil. As they’re pushed to their limits with planning, mourning the loss of an institution while assisting customers, and dealing with an entitled popular author, each begins to appreciate and better understand the others, seeing beyond superficial assumptions. Using a rotating third-person perspective, Safi writes an energizing, character-driven celebration of belonging, acceptance, and sisterhood with a clear nod to the importance of community spaces. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lauren MacLeod, the Strothman Agency.

March 1, 2021

Gr 8 Up-This is a story that will grow on many readers. What starts as a series of individual stories about young people working in a dying Chicago bookstore soon morphs into a seductive tale of those disparate coworkers suddenly realizing the store where they work is much more than just a job. When one of them makes an ill-thought-out attempt to save the bookstore by using the entire petty cash account to purchase what turn out to be fake Air Jordan shoes, it starts an avalanche of reactions. Those reactions not only reveal the inner personalities of each employee, they make them realize how important the store is to their self-images and ways of being. What ensues are some prickly confrontations that force them to get out of their comfort zones as they come together to save the store. While the result might not be everything they and readers might hope for, following what happens makes for an extremely satisfying experience. This book, narrated by Kyla Garcia and the author, gives readers a smooth and satisfying narrative. VERDICT A great choice for teens and adults who value diversity, coming of age, and self-discovery in their fiction.-John R. Clark, formerly with Hartland P.L., ME

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