09/18/2023
The latest disappearance in a long line of missing Indigenous women and girls from Alberta, teenager Kiki Cheyanne Sound, who is Black and Cree, has been missing for five months. Classmates Cameron Sound, who is Cree; Berlin Chambers, who is Métis; and Jessie Hampton, who is white, work together at Pink Mountain Pizza, a local Black-owned food joint. Each teen is dealing with their own challenges: Kiki’s cousin Cam is struggling with her vanishing and hides behind a disaffected facade, Berlin is managing undiagnosed depression while coping with her best friend ghosting her, and Jessie is navigating a tense relationship with her deeply misogynistic father. The trio is forced to come together when Berlin sees Kiki near Pink Mountain Pizza, launching the teens into an investigation behind her disappearance that is imperiled by the parlor owner’s plans to sell and franchise the pizzeria. As they try to find Kiki, the group also endeavors to prevent the owner from selling. Via an intersectionally diverse cast, this character-driven story by Ferguson (The Summer of Bitter and Sweet) tackles macro-level issues such as anti-Blackness as well as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Individuals alongside familiar teenage troubles surrounding friendship breakups. Ages 13–up. Agent: Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)
★ 09/01/2023
Gr 9 Up—Berlin is the uptight perfectionist, Cam the constantly laughing dropout, and Jessie the rebellious daughter of an ultrarich and ultraconservative family. The three work at Pink Mountain Pizza in a small Canadian town. Cam and Berlin's families are close, and they bonded in grief over the disappearance of Kiki, Cam's Cree and Black cousin several months earlier. One night, Berlin thinks she sees Kiki in town. This reignites her and Cam's search for what happened to Kiki and asking more questions among their friends. Their world is further upended when Joe, the owner of Pink Mountain Pizza, decides to sell his shop. Jessie carries the secret her father is the buyer of the pizzeria to force her to stop working there. Backed by her coworkers, Berlin sets up a social media campaign to save the pizzeria, but her plans raise further issues. Their alternating viewpoints provide insight into the challenges each character faces in their lives, moving them beyond caricatures and into fully developed, complex characters who are leaning into adulthood and making mistakes. Their actions galvanize their town and expose the racist and toxic underbelly of the most influential people there. Some characters are nonbinary and exploring their sexuality. Cam's little sister Sami has Down syndrome and he believes in her ability to be more than people think. VERDICT A YA read-alike of Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions for You, this story touches on many contemporary issues as part of their everyday lives and will have broad appeal. A first purchase.—Tamara Saarinen
★ 2023-06-21
Berlin Chambers, a Métis 17-year-old, is stunned when she sees her missing classmate near the popular pizza parlor where she works.
Kiki Cheyanne Sound, who is Black and Cree, disappeared five months ago. Exhausted from her evening shift at Pink Mountain Pizza, Berlin is unsure if she can trust her eyes. Nonetheless, she alerts Cameron Sound, her co-worker and childhood nemesis, who’s deeply affected by his cousin’s disappearance but hides his anxiety beneath a relaxed persona. Rule-following, perfectionist Berlin has always been at odds with Cam, but their shared hope that Kiki is alive, renewed by the sighting, forms a fragile bond between them. Unfortunately, bad news soon follows when it’s announced that the pizza parlor will be sold and franchised. Queer, white Jessie Hampton, the newest teen employee, is upset but unsurprised since the restaurant’s purchase is being conducted by her domineering, sexist father whose expectations she defies by working there. When Berlin, who views the loss of this local, Black-owned business as a betrayal of their community, decides to convince the owner to reverse his decision, Jessie and Cam agree to lend their support. Set in Alberta, this introspective, character-driven story examines heavy topics, including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, depression, and anti-Blackness, with sensitivity and compassion. This sophomore outing by Michif/Métis and white author Ferguson features lyrical prose that softens the emotionally fraught narrative without sacrificing suspense, resulting in a mystery that subtly builds to a shocking reveal.
Intimate and impactful. (content warning, author’s note) (Fiction. 13-18)
"Set in Alberta, this introspective, character-driven story examines heavy topics, including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, depression, and anti-Blackness, with sensitivity and compassion. This sophomore outing by Michif/Métis and white author Ferguson features lyrical prose that softens the emotionally fraught narrative without sacrificing suspense, resulting in a mystery that subtly builds to a shocking reveal." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Through a well-characterized ensemble cast, Ferguson, who is Michif/Métis and white, addresses the myriad difficult topics facing her characters with sensitivity and care. — Horn Book (starred review)
"[The characters'] actions galvanize their town and expose the racist and toxic underbelly of the most influential people there. This story touches on many contemporary issues as part of their everyday lives and will have broad appeal. A first purchase." — School Library Journal (starred review)
"Via an intersectionally diverse cast, this character-driven story by Ferguson tackles macro-level issues such as anti-Blackness as well as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Individuals alongside familiar teenage troubles surrounding friendship breakups." — Publishers Weekly
"Ferguson's stirring narrative from multiple points of view features a friendship breakup, a manifestation of depression as perfectionism, and racism in the 'corrupt colonial country of Canada.' Achingly stunning prose, 'absolute mischief,' and exhilarating kisses compel a fast read." — Shelf Awareness (starred review)
Four talented narrators voice a compelling story of teenagers who find community over a tumultuous week in their Canadian town. Jessie is excited to start a new job at Pink Mountain Pizza; narrator Aaliya Warbus's husky voice captures her seemingly flippant but truly thoughtful nature. Shaun Taylor-Corbett voices her co-worker Cam's dialogue with lighthearted humor but also reveals his pain over the loss of his cousin, Kiki, a Black Native American girl who has gone missing amid a series of disappearances. Berlin, a driven Métis student, pushes herself to succeed; Julie Lumsden conveys Berlin's struggles and fears. Kimberly Woods narrates poetic snippets of Kiki's journal entries with care. When the teens investigate a plan to sell Pink Mountain Pizza, they find much more than they expected. E.E.C. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
