Chlorine Sky

November 1, 2020

Gr 8 Up-Skyy is a Black teenager in modern-day California struggling with the end of her friendship with former best friend Lay Li, while also discovering herself outside of her former friend's shadow. Told in first-person narration, this short novel in verse introduces readers to Skyy's confusion and pain over the loss, offering her possible ideas as to why the girls grew apart. While Skyy just wants to spend her days in the pool and on the basketball court, Lay Li is more interested in makeup, boys, and clothes. Maybe they were just too different. Maybe they were never as close as she thought. However, readers also see what drew the girls together, such as absent parents and shared secrets. Despite their rift, when Skyy gets her first boyfriend, the only person she wants to talk to about her new relationship is Lay Li. Readers will find the changing friendships relatable, though they may want more character development, especially for Skyy. The book includes minor references to drug use, sex, and nonconsensual touching. VERDICT A contemporary look at changing teenage friendships and finding ways to accept yourself.-Monisha Blair, Rutgers Univ., NJ

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November 1, 2020
A girl who is tired of being in the shadows decides to shine. Skyy is used to hiding in the shadow of her best friend, Lay Li; shrinking away from her sister Essa's harsh words; and turning invisible among her peers. The only place she stands out is on the basketball court going toe-to-toe with boys who think she shouldn't be playing. While she and Lay Li are fighting and not speaking to each other, she reflects on the way her friend treated her, both during their friendship and afterward. Skyy garners the attention of Clifton, an attractive neighborhood boy, but his attention isn't enough to help Skyy love herself. Through a process of self-discovery and by listening to the stories of girls around her, Skyy learns to stand in her truth and determine what she's worth. Writing in free verse, Browne explores concepts that will resonate with readers navigating toxic friendships and budding relationships and growing into themselves. Her clear, descriptive word choices conjure vivid images and sharp feelings that pair well with the conversational flow, making the story accessible and appealing to reluctant readers. The decision to withhold Skyy's name until the end of the text allows readers to find themselves in this story. Skyy and the majority of characters are cued as Black. A coming-of-age novel for Black girls who have been told they're too much and yet never enough. (Fiction. 13-18)

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November 16, 2020
With her sister constantly criticizing her and their single mother working long hours, Black teen Skyy loves nothing more than retreating to the basketball court, despite her male peers’ aggression, and spending time with her best friend of two years, Lay Li. But when the girls have a falling-out over the boy Lay Li is dating, who calls Skyy “black/ & ugly & stupid,” she must figure out how to face the world solo—navigating a romance of her own, considering her bond with Lay Li and male-driven narratives surrounding other young women, and slowly learning to gauge her own self-worth. In succinct free verse lines, Browne (Black Girl Magic) stirs up images that illuminate Skyy’s vibrant neighborhood (“The kind of folks that park on the lawn & clean they car/ with the Gap Band blasting out the door speakers”) and engage the senses (“Both hands grip the orange world/ ridges in black talk back”). Browne’s exploration of a teen finding herself moves rapidly, while Skyy’s journey toward self-love pulls at the heart. Ages 14–up. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary.