[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Inkyard Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Every year in April, Central International School holds a lock-in for their senior high students. It’s the highlight of the year, something students plan for and think about all year long.
On that night:
- Amira is waiting for the decathalon to begin. She’s ready to take on all comers, boys and girls, to be named best athlete in the school.
- Omar is probably her biggest competition. But his mind is focused less on the basketball competition and more on looking to see if Peejay is in the stands.
- Celeste, a new student at CIS, is hoping the lock-in will help her finally connect with someone at this school.
- Kenji is trying to steer kids to the improv room for his favorite activity (even though his dad thinks it’s a waste of time).
- Peejay is responsible for planning the secret “party” space in the school, a role of immense importance given to one student each year. His brother’s turn was legendary, and Peejay is hoping to live up to that legacy, especially after the accident.
- Joy, Malik, Eli and Lolo are chaining themselves to the doors and locking everyone in while Marisa, their leader, is leading them in stating their manifesto. The doors will stay chained until the students, teachers, and community agree to her list of ecological changes and demands.
This lock in is NOT going to be anything like previous years.
Review
This was fascinating! I don’t know that I’ve read many books like this. It reminded me of school shooting stories like This Is Where It Ends (Rating: ♥♥♥♥) in that the story moves to different characters and different parts of the building as the story moves forward. But the tension in this is lower because it’s less violent – a protest with unthreatened hostages as opposed to armed assailants – and has lower stakes.
The writing was fantastic. The point of view changes almost from paragraph to paragraph, third person, but each character shares from his/her perspective (third person omniscient). It took several chapters to get used to this, but it was brilliant for conveying urgency and the vast experiences and perspectives in the group. There’s a large cast in this, and this style helped with that, too, once I was used to it. It helped the reader understand what prompted some students to be part of Marisa’s original group as well as understand why some of the other students either became protectors as the story went on or antagonists.
While there were a TON of things going on inside the school – and in the world around the building – regarding the protest, there were tons of “little” things going on too. Friendships and potential romances developed. Parent/child relationships evolved. Teachers made choices on where they stood on the issues. Some kids leaned into their gifts and interests while others became more informed about environmental issues. The whole thing was really woven together well.
The romantic relationships between primary characters – both same-sex – felt heavy handed at times to me. Everything else in the book moved so quickly, but in at least one relationship it felt like time slowed when one character was exploring her developing feelings. This might be because it was going to be a huge cultural issue for her, which makes sense. It just felt like it slowed the story down to me.
If you love YA stories that dig into contemporary issues like the environment; books with a large and diverse cast of characters; or stories where all the characters are stuck somewhere, forced to deal with their feelings, experiences and limitations, do not miss this one! (Language, underage drinking, LGBTQ+)
