School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--Echo Brown is a dark-skinned African American girl who comes from an impoverished and dysfunctional family on the East Side of Cleveland. Her mother, April (Aprah), is addicted to crack, stemming from childhood sexual abuse and an accidental tragedy. Her stepfather, Ed, is addicted to alcohol. Her brothers, Rone and Dre, are addicted to the streets. To cope with intergenerational pain and trauma, Echo believes she and her mother are wizards. With the help of other female wizards, she transfers from one portal to another in a rich, white school on the West Side to finally heal and break generational curses. Debut author Brown crafts this empowering autobiographical novel fused with magical realism and allegory. She provides lessons of wizard training in every chapter. Readers, especially sci-fi/fantasy fans, will be mesmerized by the intersections in her parallel universes. Brown brilliantly charts her journey from a victim of her circumstances to a freshman at Dartmouth College. She succeeds against the odds of racism, colorism, poverty, sexual abuse, addiction, depression, sexism, and misogyny as an African American girl. Readers will appreciate the power of literature as a healing tool with the nods to Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, Malcolm X, and Alice Walker. VERDICT This revelatory YA book deserves space on bookstore and library shelves for its healing power for all readers to break the chains of intergenerational pain and trauma.--Donald Peebles, Brooklyn Public Library
Publisher's Weekly Review
Debut author Brown's quasi-memoir blends magical realism with a coming-of-age story in this mold-breaking novel. Echo is a black teen growing up on Cleveland's East Side, where adults worship the "white rock." She is also learning how to control her newfound powers as a "quantum wizard"; shortly after her crush, Jessie, is in a tragic accident, Echo begins to see a veil that covers people. Soon, she learns that she's not the only wizard: Elena, a gay Muslim girl who attends her mostly white middle school, discovers her own abilities, and the two become friends. In chapters organized as lessons in wizardry, Echo relays the triumphs and tragedies of her childhood, smoothly skipping across time to relate disparate moments atop one another. Using wizardry as a way to explore making something out of nothing and developing the skills it takes to survive traumatic events, Brown's novel gives readers a potent glimpse into heartbreaking, unjust experiences and profound resilience in the face of wrongs perpetrated both systemically and interpersonally. The novel never shies from tough subject matter (drug addiction, sexual assault), at the same time deftly integrating magically realistic components and allegory into contemporary scenes. Ages 14--up. (Jan.)