Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Browne
Published by Crown Books for Young Readers on January 12, 2021
ISBN: 0593176391
Pages: 192
Genres: Fiction in Verse/Poetry, Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

In this brief YA novel-in-verse, a girl struggles with self-confidence and self-esteem. She lives in California with her single mom and mean-spirited older step-sister; her father is in prison. She wears hand-me-downs and gets teased a lot. When her best friend Lay Li starts to laugh at some of the teasing, their friendship suffers. She holds her own on the basketball court playing with the neighborhood boys and she pushes back when the boys don’t like her playing rough and trash-talking like them. Will she come to terms with who she is and learn her own self-worth? Although a short book, Browne raises interesting questions about sex roles and stereotypes and the double-standard girls run into. Why can boys talk about conquests but girls are shamed?

Writing about Lay Li:

“But now I realize she ain’t the boss.

Now I realize it’s all a trick

Now I realize being a girl is heavy business.” (p. 152)

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham