Me (Moth) (edizione 2021)

Listening to this book, some of the poems gave me pause with the haunting language. Moth is reeling after the death of her parents and brother in a car accident. Her aunt turns to the bottle as a way to deal with the loss. Moth goes through school not connecting with anyone, until Sani shows up at her school. The two run away together and go on a roadtrip throughout the south and west. The two connect with by sharing their heritage and finding ways they overlap and connect. ( )

(audiobook performed by the author, 3+ hrs) teen fiction/novel in verse - Black and Navajo teens take a road trip; Moth, a dancer, deals with the grief of losing her parents and brother in a car accident while Sani, a singer/musician, deals with depression after escaping an abusive home situation.

Moth is a ghost; she died in the car crash as well but believed she had survived.

This one was good as an audiobook but it was a little hard to decipher without seeing the words and punctuation on the page. ( )

Trigger Warnings: physical abuse, racism, bullying, death, mental health - depression

Moth lost her mother, father, and brother when their car split in half like a candy bar. Now she lives with her aunt but she feels deeply alone and unnoticed.

Then one day, she meets Sani, a boy battling depression and searching for his roots, and hoping that finding those will help him understand the static in his mind. If Moth can help him, maybe she can understand her own history. They decide to go on a road trip together to find out.

A YA novel told in verse, Me (Moth) is about identity, first love, and what holds us together.

What a beautiful, heartbreaking story. Both Moth and Sani and their stories will stay with me for a very long time. Amber McBride did wonderful writing these characters so they dug into your heart to stay there. McBride also did an amazing job at including Navajo and Hoodoo culture and blending them together through Moth and Sani.

This book will sit among the titles of The Poet X, The Crossover, and Long Way Down, just you wait, it is that special! It’s a fast read that will break your heart and stitch it back together, all while you learn and grow with Moth and Sani.

I borrowed this from my public library, but I’m adding it to my list to get myself my own copy so I can reread it again, and again, and again. Teens and adults will both be mesmerized by this emotionally beautiful novel-in-verse. ( )

SLJ starred; Booklist starred; PW

Unusual, lyrical, intriguing. Moth is the sole survivor of a terrible crash that killed her parents and her brother. Now living with her alcoholic aunt, she slides painfully through school and life. Then a new boy whose pain equals hers starts at her school. Their emotions sense each other, meet and fuse, with the result a meandering road trip back to his Navajo homeland near Four Corners, NM. Told in verse, with a stunning ending and great afterward, this is one heck of a book. Great choice for libraries where teens value thoughtful and emotion-inducing stories. ( )