This wasn’t my favorite book, mainly because I didn’t like the format, but it was still an amazing book. It’s 2014, and it’s almost time for prom. Maddy is a quiet student. She never talks, and she never makes waves. She also never comes to school on days that it’s going to rain. Why? Because the water will make her white passing hair frizz up a lot. Maddy has been told her entire life not to let anyone know she’s biracial. Her father straightens her hair and drills it into her: never tell anyone. But a surprise rainstorm ruins everything. Her secret is out, and the entire school is out to get her. Maddy gets bullied, and her reaction causes a small earthquake. She doesn’t know how she did it, but she did. One of the other girls, Wendy is planning prom—the white one. In their town, they have two proms. The white one, held at the fancy country club, and the black one, held at a renovated barn. Wendy has the idea to combine the two proms. After all, it was her best friend who bullied Maddy, and Wendy wants to make it clear that they’re all good people! She plans the whole thing: she won’t actually go to prom, but she’ll have her boyfriend—the star football player, who’s black—invite Maddy to the prom, because it’ll look nice. But Maddy’s power that no one knows about is dangerous, and tragedy strikes at prom. Told partially from the perspective of the students in 2014, and partially through a present day podcast about none other than Maddy. Trigger warnings (possible spoilers): Racism, death, death of a child, mass death, child abuse, violence, racial slurs, bullying, police brutality, religious bigotry.
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