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OLDER FICTION
Morris, Brittney

The Cost of Knowing

336 pp. | Simon | April, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5344-4545-1 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-5344-4547-5 $10.99
(2) YA When sixteen-year-old Alex lays his hands on an object, he gets a glimpse of the future related to what he's touching. These visions are a great source of anxiety for the teen, who is also dealing with the grief of losing his parents in a car accident several years earlier and with the emotional chasm between himself and his younger brother, Isaiah. When Alex touches a photograph and sees his brother's impending death, he is devastated--particularly because he is unable to change Isaiah's fate. However, he is determined to do whatever he can to reconnect with his sibling in the time they have remaining. That effort leads to surprising revelations, including how deep these supernatural roots run in the family's ancestral line. Morris (SLAY, rev. 11/19) deftly weaves in themes of contemporary racism and the adultification that Black children often experience, with the tension between the past and an uncertain future resulting in hypervigilance. For Alex--and, we learn, for Isaiah--this manifests in a difficulty in focusing on the present. But amid the gripping, suspenseful plot, the joy in the unfolding relationship between the siblings provides respite and bridges the ancestral past to a hopeful future.
Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

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