06 Apr / One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite [in Booklist]
Ma likes to think her family is like Job’s, so much so that she and Dad named their daughters accordingly: Jemima Genesis, Keziah Leah, Keren Happuch. Generations on both sides have known tortuous tragedy, but no one is prepared when Kezi – a YouTube activist – dies on her 18th birthday after being wrongfully arrested at a supposed-to-be peaceful protest.
Kezi had been closest to Genny, leaving Happi feeling like the othered sister. To honor Kezi’s final wishes, Genny and Happi embark on a cross-country, Route 66 adventure following the 1948 edition of The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide meant to keep Black road travelers safe. Their discoveries will prove lifesaving.
Veteran Bahni Turpin memorably channels angry, resistant Happi desperately trying to understand the sister she barely knew. Jordan Cobb convincingly ciphers determined Kezi, while also voicing the girls’ great-grandmother Evelyn and grandfather Riley, who reveal not-so-long-ago perils Black travelers survived – or didn’t. Carolyn Smith is Shaqueria, a foster runaway whose path unexpectedly intertwines with Kezi’s. Together, the well-tuned trio affectingly enhances the Moulite sisters’ (Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, 2019) sophomore triumph.
Review: “Media,” Booklist, March 15, 2021
Readers: Adult
Published: 2021