About a month ago, I finished this book, which was published in January of this year. Since then, I’ve found myself thinking about the book, the characters, and even the ending. Initially, the ending wasn’t my favorite, but while pondering, I realize why it was written as it was.
For high schoolers, this is a great book to unpack. There’s a lot of history, feelings about grief and handling grief, sibling relationships, and just a lot is going on.
Then you get to the actual story.
Kezi is a senior in high school, who uses YouTube to display her opinions, her social activism, and a deeper understanding of how our nation has arrived at this point historically. She attends a rally, but she doesn’t make it home so the story is told from her younger sister’s prospective. The first part of the book looks at the family’s grief as they try to handle this loss of “one of the good ones.”
As a tribute to Kezi, she and her older sister embark on Kezi’s graduation road trip where they stop at somewhat unknown historical places. The historical lessons guide the journey, but they also provide a deeper understanding of America.
There are a lot of twists and turns, which makes this a great book for teens, but if they’re like me, they’d benefit from discussing this book.
– Recommended by Stephanie, We Are Creed’s President
