3.5 stars actually.... I wanted so bad to like this book but I have to be honest....

The book follows Morgan, an African American girl living in white suburbia and attends a predominately white school. She has depression and anxiety and receives counseling for it. She struggles to fit in with her pro black views and seemingly 'liberal' political views. I do like the fact that she isn't the stereotypical black teenager -- only listening to rap music. Her environment may have a hand in this. The flow of the book and use of constant parentheses was hard to follow and digest besides the actual plot of the book. This easily was the biggest issue for me.

Nonetheless I appreciated the conversation and normalizing mental health issues and struggles, seeking help for it and having open dialogue about it. I also appreciated the friendship between her and Meg and how it came full circle throughout the book.

Thanks goes to Netgalley and Random House Children's for this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was SO GOOD. It's 2008 and Morgan is a black girl amidst a mostly all-white suburb struggles with racism, depression, liking boys who only like white girls, and finding her place. Really amazing stuff. Finished reading in 2 days! What a fantastic debut novel by Morgan Parker. Can't wait to see what she does next.

Morgan is a California girl but she’s far from typical. Fresh from a suicide attempt and on the shaky ground of recovery, she’s figuring out how to deal with parents who don’t understand her moods (though, she doesn’t really understand them herself), and how to continue to survive as one of only a handful of Black kids at a private Christian school. She doesn’t look like the other girls, dress like the other girls and she prefers Emo to Hip-Hop. Firmly outside of what passes for normal at her school she’s not really doing so well and without a roadmap she’s got to learn what “okay” means for her and how get there safely.

I enjoyed the book. Reading about the experiences of a Black girl dealing with depression and anxiety is absolutely needed and anyone whose wondering what anxiety feels like will appreciate the first person view from inside Morgan’s head. We see her thoughts spiral, and journey with her as she makes decisions based on insecurity or whim. We feel the world close in on her in social situations root for her when she makes gains. Morgan does get a happy ending, but like life it isn’t like that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it’s more like a sunset you watch from your favorite spot on a hill on really nice Summer day, perfect in its way.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of WHO PUT THIS SONG ON? by Morgan Parker in exchange for my honest review.***

2.5 STARS

As a teen, writer Morgan Parker feels like an outsider. Her christian high school hardly has any other black kids and her white therapist doesn’t get it. Morgan is suicidally depressed with anger and sadness her most prominent symptoms.

WHO PUT THIS SONG ON? is a niche book that will probably appeal to a narrow group of readers and for that reason, I’m glad Parker decided to write it. I hate to criticize too harshly a narrative nonfiction story, because, in a sense, I’m criticizing the writer so I’ll focus mostly on what I did like.

Parker immersed me in her experience as a black teen among mostly white. I could see how, from her perspective, comments from her white peers that didn’t overtly intend harm stung. I don’t think the onus should be on her to educate her white friends. I do think a one time response like, “I know you are trying to be supportive, although when you said X I felt Y. Z would have been a better statement” could go a long way. If her peers don’t think they’re doing wrong, they won’t know to correct it. I do NOT blame her, even adults have difficulty addressing issues with people in a way that doesn’t put them on the defensive while expressing a point.

Because I use frequent parentheticals, I enjoyed Parker’s writing style (although on my kindle when the statements started and ended on different pages. I don’t think this is a solvable issue because of the font sizes.) <— parenthetical.

I’m glad I read WHO PUT THIS SONG ON? and would recommend to some readers even though I didn’t enjoy the reading experience.

Morgan feels cursed. She's clinically depressed, and she's struggling to communicate about it with her family and friends. And in her mostly white California suburb, her teachers, classmates, and even her friends have a way of making her feel like an outsider. So when no one around her gets where she's coming from, how can she figure out who she is?

This is an incredibly raw, real novel that pulls from Morgan Parker's life and teenage experiences. It's not plot-driven, and I think that's a strength. Being a teenager often feels confusing and directionless, and that's really reflected here. I absolutely love the candid discussions of depression and therapy. This is a story that is crucial for so many teens who don't see themselves reflected in pop culture and books. And the way Morgan Parker moves between the fictional elements of the story and her real life is very effective. I love her voice and look forward to reading more of her work.

This was a realistic depiction of various issues that Teens struggle with. I know that lot of Teens in our community will resonate with Morgan's story. There were many avenues that were explored in an extremely informative way. I found it interesting how the author based this off of her own experiences.