Candice Iloh

This coming of age is tied to tons of social issues facing Americans today. Yaminah Okar feels like she has moved past the hurt from her past when it suddenly comes back and she must once again face her multiple traumas. Maybe this will be the time she will overcome. Candice Iloh dangles a mystery in front of the readers so we willingly follow Yaminah into the heart of many social ills plaguing America today. This is a page-turner that will have the reader intrigued from the first sentence of the prologue.
Iloh introduces many characters, subplots, and conflicts and doesn’t seem to fully explore any of them. This book needed to be longer, or the focus narrowed. Iloh does include a letter to the reader informing them about the tough topics and emotions of the book; I would encourage all readers, especially younger teens to take her warning seriously.