Eb & Flow by Kelly J. Baptist
ISBN: 0593429133
Genres: Fiction in Verse/Poetry, Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

Eb (short for Ebony) and Flow (nickname for De’Kari) find themselves suspended for 10 days after an altercation in the cafeteria. Eb accidentally tripped (she says) over Flow’s new sneakers and scuffed them. Flow did not react well and when Eb’s friends egged her on to pretend to spill bar-b-q sauce on Flow’s sneakers, things quickly de-escalated when she accidentally (she says) spilled the sauce on his sneakers. He reacted and shoved (not hit) her (he says) and she may have shoved him back. This novel-in-verse takes place during the 10-day suspension in a series of back-and-forth poems in the voices of Eb and Flow. Interestingly, the reader learns that Eb and Flow have a lot more in common than they realize – including the fact that both have absent fathers and that their families are worried that they are both very close to expulsion and possibly derailing their future plans. The last day of suspension is an In-School-Suspension where Eb & Flow are given an opportunity for reflection. An authentic middle grade story of family, school, and the challenges kids face from peer-pressure to viral videos to absent parents.

Recommended for Cream of the Crop.

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