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320 pp.
| Putnam
| August, 2021
|
Trade
ISBN 978-0-525-51560-9
$17.99
|
Ebook
ISBN 978-0-525-51561-6
$10.99
(
2)
YA
Set in a township in contemporary South Africa, this story revolves around a society still grappling with the effects of a post-apartheid reality. Amandla has never met her father, who is Black. On her fifteenth birthday, her mentally unstable white mother comes home from a trip insisting that if Amandla wears a homemade dress in his favorite color, he will return. The teen is used to her mother's often strange and secretive behavior, but this time she decides to look for answers to her many questions, especially surrounding her father. After finding a large amount of money and an unknown address hidden in her mother's purse, she and her friends become unlikely sleuths, unraveling a mystery that is at the core of Amandla's identity. As the mystery concerning her family tree is gradually revealed, so too is the history of a country that all too recently would have considered her very existence to be illegal. The excitement of the mystery; the memorable cast of characters, particularly the female characters; and the many twists and turns of the plot keep the pages turning until the very end.