Like Home (YA fiction)

     In segueing from Suddenly A Murder to Like Home we're making a quantum leap. Whereas the parents of the teens in the former would be facilitating gentrification of neighborhoods to become even more obscenely rich. Nelo, narrator of Louisa Onome's Like Home and her friends and family are the potential collateral damage of gentrification. 

     What was the neighborhood you called home growing up like? For me it was the less affluent part of Beverly, Massachusetts. I had a vague awareness that people looked down on us. We were said to have the worst elementary school with all the "wrong side of the tracks" kids. At one point we rallied together to defeat an urban renewal attempt. 

     But to me it was home: the ocean within walking distance, the next door neighbors who every year threw a Greek Orthodox Easter celebration for all who showed up, the ice cream 🍦 man on his anointed rounds, the playground with its perfect sledding hill, Santa giving candy canes and taking gift requests, kids movie matinees, sleep overs at my best friend's house...

     So I could really relate to Nelo who has spent her whole young life in Ginger East, the neighborhood she feels at home in. She knows it isn't perfect. It's been increasingly linked with crime and violence. There's been an exodus, especially since an incident at an arcade. Rents are being jacked up and real estate buyers circle the blocks like vultures seeking road kill. Local businesses are giving way to bourgeoisie establishments. 

     But it's home. And a large part of what makes it home is the Ginger Store, the corner store that is owned by her best friend's family. It's a second home to Nelo. 

     So imagine how she feels when, coming to pick Kate up to bus to school together, she stumbles on a crime scene. Ginger Store has been bricked, its big window in shards on the ground.

     Imagine how she feels when, in the aftermath, Kate becomes more distant. 

     Imagine how she feels when she learns that Kate's father is seriously considering selling rather than reopening the store.

     Imagine how she feels when the cops turn a peaceful neighborhood protest into a weaponized riot. 

     Like Home makes a huge social justice issue more understandable and relatable to YA readers by presenting the perspective of a peer having to cope with it. I'd consider it an important acquisition for school and public libraries, especially in areas where gentrification is incipient or ongoing. On a purrrsonal note, it's a crisp autumnal day in Penobscot County. I voted early, walking down to the town office. I made it in 12 minutes. I've been working on my walking pace, which is now considered to be linked with longevity, and am really improving it. I started last summer by matching my husband's pace when we walked together. It went from hard to easy. Now I can replicate it when he isn't around. I look forward to going door to door with Bailey Saturday. I hope we can find some cool Halloween decorations to photograph.

A great big shout out goes out to my wing campaigner, Bailey. We work so well together!

Jules Hathaway 

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