short quick read. stunning. Niru is a senior at a private high school in Washington DC. Headed to Harvard. A track star. His best friend is Meredith. At the same school. Also smart. Niru is struggling with a secret and you feel every bit of his internal struggle. He is gay and no one knows. Except Meredith. Niru's parents are from Nigeria and they are very strict, very religious, and very conservative. How they all process and deal with Niru being gay and his own struggle is so well written and so real. Most of the book is Niru's story. And then we have Meredith's story for the last 20% interwoven with the present and 5 years or so in the future. And that is where the books changes from Niru's struggle with being gay to a story of race in America. We saw glimpses of it when Niru's brother was arrested when he was driving his father's brand new Range Rover and we hear his brother telling him that as a black man in America you always have to keep your hands up. But the ending was still shocking and profound to me. A very sad statement on where we are right now in this country. Sad and very moving. Great book.
