When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales.

The characters are fully realized, and the themes of family, change, and grief are handled with sensitivity and care.Ī heart-rending narrative of friendship, family, and the path to healing.Ĭhainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.Įvery four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. This well-crafted novel in verse is rich in detail and successfully conveys the depth of April’s emotions. When she learns the truth about what Asa’s family is going through, however, April realizes she has to share all she has been keeping inside. Before long she’s hiding something else, as she observes the extent of Papa Zee’s depression. When Zee’s next medical episode proves fatal, April’s grief is compounded by her guilt over keeping quiet. But there are difficult things too: Zee has some alarming health symptoms and swears April to secrecy, April’s single mom is seeing a new woman, and Asa is behaving unusually. April asks Zee’s dad, Papa Zee, to give her drumming lessons, fulfilling her own dreams. Sure enough, she is paired with socially awkward Asa, who’s shunned by the two other White girls in class. April is happy for him but knows her school experience will change. Their tight unit is disrupted when gifted violinist Zee, who comes from a musical family, is admitted to a new STEAM charter school. An 11-year-old girl suffers a devastating loss when her best friend suddenly dies.Īpril and best friend Zee, both African American, live across the hall from each other in their Boston apartment building.

When Langston Dances by Kaija Langley