Pretty

May 22, 2017
Sayre’s engrossing second novel takes place in the same Brooklyn neighborhood as his debut, with Davis, Husky’s protagonist, playing a supporting role, along with their eclectic friends. Sophie, an African-American eighth grader, doesn’t mind being called pretty. “I guess I know I’m cute,” she reflects. “Especially when the look is right and the hair is on point.” She takes pains, however, to hide the ugly realities of her home life: the accumulated liquor bottles she recycles and her mother’s terrifying drunken rages. After one particularly awful night, her mother leaves for a monthlong work trip in Paris, and Sophie’s Auntie Amara moves in. Having an adult around who pays attention initially baffles Sophie, but she begins to let down her guard. As she spends more and more with Auntie Amara, including visits to her aunt’s hair salon and Harlem church, Sophie gains greater self-awareness and the courage to face the difficult choices that await upon her mother’s return. It’s a powerful story of growth and change, brimming with honesty and hope. Ages 10–up.

May 1, 2017
The only time 13-year-old Sophie can relax is when her alcoholic mother, Janet, finally falls into bed asleep.Sometimes Janet is happy, dancing and singing through the apartment. Other times she is angry and violent. After a particularly bad episode, Sophie returns from school to find Janet, a freelance fashion journalist, packing for an extended trip to Paris. Auntie Amara, with her dreadlocks and music, comes to stay in their quiet Brooklyn home. At first, Sophie feels suffocated by the attention. But trips to her aunt's church, a session at a local beauty salon, and long talks over steaming bowls of spicy stew encourage Sophie to relax. With her mother gone, Sophie has the space to consider who she wants to be. A light-skinned black girl with a French father and her mother's sense of fashion, Sophie is pretty. But a school project makes her consider the real meaning of beauty, and it is nothing like what she finds in Janet's fashion magazines. As he did in Husky (2015), Sayre once again proves that he understands the complexity of growing up. His confident story tackles race, sexuality, wealth, beauty, and faith as he revisits the characters and Brooklyn location of his first novel. This will encourage readers to press in to the difficult questions and look for the truth beneath. Coming-of-age never looked so beautiful. (Fiction. 10-14)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 1, 2017

Gr 6-10-Intelligent, poised, and confident, 13-year-old Sophie, who is biracial, lives with her mother, Janet, who is African American and has a successful career as a freelance fashion writer. Her mom is also an alcoholic. When the teen gets home one afternoon, her mother's sister Amara is there, saying she's going to stay with her niece while Janet is on extended assignment in Paris. Janet doesn't explain what she'll be working on or how long she'll be gone, and she leaves early in the morning before her daughter gets up. Life with Sophie's aunt is very different. Amara not only checks Sophie's homework but also insists they have dinner together every night and attend church on Sundays. While Sophie at first resents the loss of her autonomy, soon she begins to enjoy her time with her aunt and even considers moving in with her. After several weeks, when Janet suddenly returns from rehab, Sophie is stunned and hurt that her mother's whereabouts were kept from her, but eventually, with Amara's help, they reconcile. This follow-up to Sayre's Husky is the second installment in a series about a group of kids in a Brooklyn neighborhood. Despite a slow start, this title could spark discussion about young teens dealing with alcoholism in the family. VERDICT An additional purchase where the previous volume is popular.-Marlyn Beebe, Long Beach Public Library, CA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2018
Eighth grader Sophie isn't sad when her alcoholic mother leaves for a month and her aunt comes to visit. Auntie Amara is a strong black woman who imposes her ways on Sophie's life, but paradoxically, this supportive structure allows biracial Sophie to bloom. This coming-of-age story, a companion to Sayre's first novel (Husky), encourages readers to think about the true meaning of beauty.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)