Under The Neon Lights

     I have such fond memories of roller skating rinks. I was never one of the stars but I managed to stay on my feet at a decent speed. As a child and teen I loved gliding around in a crowd to music and chowing down on food my mother wouldn't approve of. As a college undergrad I got an unexpected chance to experience the magical ambiance. My major had regular visits to the local rink. It was a bonding experience and a major part of our identity. I even got to skate during the couples skates because the wife of the professor I became a TA for couldn't skate and keep an eye on her kids at the same time. 

     Skating rink affecianados and social justice warriors will find Arriel Vinson's Under The Neon Lights to be deeply engaging and often enraging. Novels in verse affecianados will be overjoyed to see such a masterpiece of this genre. 

     Jae lives for her Saturday nights at WestSide Roll.

"The skating rink is our place 

every Saturday night. 

Me, my bestie Noelle, every skater here

whip around the wood, fast and furious 

like we're racing for our lives. 

We shake our sorrows loose,

shed them like snakeskin."

     Jae has some pretty big uncertainties in her life. Bestie Noelle seems to be slipping away.

"She tries new things, flirts with a crush,

attempts to drag me to unfamiliar places 

and almost always,

I tell her

I'd rather stay in

with my soothing R & B."

     Then there's her estranged father. He seems to be trying to get back into her life. But he has hurt her badly so many times before. Can she take the risk of trusting him?

     More uncertainty comes in the form of Trey, a cutie who literally bowls her over in their first encounter at WestSide Roll. At first she's not really interested in him. But he's quite persistent and may be winning her over.

     Then the unimaginable happens. Mr. Mike, the long time owner announces that WestSide Roll will be closing in five weeks. There's no chance of saving it. 

"It's like someone 

snatched the breath

out of my body 

I don't see anything 

only hear aw man's

or what the fuck's

I am motionless 

wondering how

something so special 

to me

to us

could disappear"

     The how has to do with a theme that's popping up with alarming frequency in YA literature because it's happening with alarming frequency in the dystopia we call real life. The evil of gentrification. Not only is she losing her refuge, but the landlords who rent out the apartments where she and the people she cares about live are jacking the rents by an exorbitant amount and no longer accepting rental assistance programs. 

     The gentrifiers see the value of properties in how their fiscal worth can be beefed up by getting rid of the current residents and luring in the filthy rich. 

"But I learned it's valuable because of what it is, 

not what it can become. 

Because all of us here hold each other down, 

buy each other's lemonade, 

watch each other's packages, 

offer each other food, 

trust each other to babysit."

     Vinson's choice of verse for her narrative is brilliant. It carries so much nuance and feeling that prose couldn't from the joy and freedom of skating in community to beloved music to the shock of learning that paradise soon will be lost. Notice that in that quote she's dropped all punctuation, accentuating the feelings of unbearable grief and loss.

     Under The Neon Lights is lit. But you don't have to take my word for it. Both Elizabeth Acevedo and Leah Johnson have contributed back cover accolades. 

     After such a brilliant debut I can't wait to see what Vinson comes up with next.

On a purrrsonal note, here in Central Maine we've been hit with--surprise, surprise 😮 🫢--more snow. I've just come in from shoveling. At least Eugene was not called out in the wee hours so he could get a full night's sleep. I plan to spend the day on my early spring cleaning. I mean with happy meal Squishmallows as an incentive. With reading breaks near the tree. Soon as my responsibilities increase I won't have as much time for reading, meaning less frequent posts. (At least one review a week though.) I really--after 14 1/2 years providing content for this blog and the years reviewing children's for the Bangor Daily News--find real joy in writing my reviews and picture posts. It never gets old. And I know it improves my writing abilities. With due diligence and maybe a bit of luck I believe I can follow in Amber's footsteps by having my first book 📖 published. 

A great big shout out goes out to all who read this blog, especially those who give me feedback. 

Jules Hathaway 

     

     

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