Stepford Wives meets Black Lives Matter in Nicola Yoon's chilling One Of Our Kind.
Liberty, California is billed as a utopia for upwardly mobile Black families, a haven free of the microaggressions and racist violence of the outside world. The mansions and their grounds are picture perfect.
"It's hard for Jasmyn to believe that everyone who lives here is Black. Harder to believe that, in just one month, she's going to be one of the Black people who lives here."
Jasmyn, her husband, Kingston, and their young son, Kamau, certainly seem to be moving into a better place, especially after an incident with a white police officer. And the guys adjust easily. Her husband fits right in with the elites. Kamau loves and seems to be thriving in his new school.
But things are more complicated for Jasmyn. A public defender who sees so many young lives destroyed by the system, she can't just turn her back on the Blacks who can't afford to live in Liberty. She's hoping to meet new neighbors who share her passion for activism. But when she tries to start a local Black Lives Matter chapter she encounters almost total indifference.
And there's the ominous wellness center that's at the the heart of community life. What's up with the chants, the rituals, the equipment that seems more suited to a medical lab than a spa?
What's being done to her neighbors? Is there something in the air or water? Can she get her family out before they're next?
Yoon is an award winning YA author. One Of Our Kind is her most excellent adult fiction debut.
On a purrrsonal note, tonight Tobago and I are on our own. Eugene is on an 🧊 fishing 🎣 weekend with his best friend. They can have it. The thought of sitting on a frozen lake leaves me cold.
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene who I can't wait to see tomorrow.
Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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