Something Kindred

I think this is the best book I've read, and quite possibly will read, all year. I (mistakenly) thought this was going to be another "teen grudgingly reconnects with their small town familial roots over the summer, and also there's spooky stuff" novel, and while there *are* ghosts, and main character Jericka certainly *is* initially begrudging of her summer away from friends in a tiny Maryland town, this book is so, SO much more. Set in a town founded by formerly enslaved people, with a supernatural element rooted in the trauma of white supremacy and racist violence, this YA novel centers Black history and contemporary Black experiences in ways that (to me, at least) totally up-end the still-persistent publishing notion that white feelings, or white experiences, need to be anywhere at all in the story. Ciera Burch's writing is absolutely breathtaking and immersive, and the way the novel deals with forgiveness, family, belonging, betrayal, trauma, and growing up is so deep and nuanced. It takes a lot of plot beats that could be tedious, or at least stereotypical, and makes them something transcendent but still utterly quiet. And all of this is not the mention the budding sapphic relationship at the center. Just...this is a staggeringly good novel. Read it.