
Every Body Looking
byCandice Iloh
"This is a story about the sometimes toxic and heavy expectations set on the backs of first generation children, the pressures woven into the family dynamic, culturally and socially. About childhood secrets with sharp teeth. And ultimately, about a liberation that taunts every young person."-New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds Every Body Looking is a heavily autobiographical novel of a young woman's struggle to carve a place for herself-for her black female body-in a world of deeply conflicting messages. Told entirely in verse, Ada's story encompasses her earliest memories as a child, including her abuse at the hands of a young cousin, her mother's rejection and descent into addiction, and her father's attempts to create a home for his American daughter more like the one he knew in Nigeria. The present-tense of the book is Ada's first year at Howard University in Washington DC, where she must finally confront the fundamental conflict between who her family says she should be and what her body tells her she must be.
Language
en
Published on
01/01/2020
Pages
416
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780525556206
Who is this book for? Readers interested in coming-of-age stories, LGBT themes, and narratives about identity and family dynamics.
Topics Generational expectationsBlack female experienceIdentity conflictFamily dynamicsCultural identityAbuseAddictionImmigration experienceSelf-discoveryHealing journeyIdentityFamilyFreedom
MoodReflective, Hopeful
Female protagonist
RomanceMinor Subplot
ViolenceMild
Explicit scenesSuggestive Themes
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