Read This Book…

This past weekend, I traveled down to the Lowcountry to attend my very first Yallfest. Dozens of young adult and middle grade authors from around the country came to Charleston, South Carolina, to talk about their books. Attendees lined up in the wee hours of the VERY cold Saturday morning to get early copies of their most anticipated reads and wristbands to get into Leigh Bardugo’s book signing.

I went with a middle grade author friend of mine, and she showed me the ropes as we trekked around in the rain from panel to panel. In one panel about plotting, I found myself enraptured by Hannah V. Sawyerr, a young adult author whose novel in verse, All the Fighting Parts, just came out this year. As she described the structure of her book, I knew I had to read it.

After grabbing a copy at the booksellers’ tent set up by Blue Bicycle Books, I flipped through the novel as I felt that little spark that told me that the book I held in my hands was something pretty special. My friend said, “I just bought a copy of that book too. Why don’t we listen to the audiobook on our drive back home?” And we did just that.

The novel follows Amina, a 16-year-old Black girl who dislikes her father’s insistence on taking her to church every Sunday and Wednesday. When she gets in trouble at school, her dad says she has to volunteer for some church events. But after a church event one night, the Pastor assaults her, and Amina’s world falls apart.

The book is structured as a “before” and an “after,” describing the events leading up to the assault and then Amina’s experience pressing charges, attending therapy, and trying to heal. The use of poetry adds such emotional depth, adding to the many layers of Amina’s story. She struggles to move forward, to communicate with her friends, and to understand her father’s pain and helplessness after he learns what happened to her.

Hannah V. Sawyerr performs the audiobook in a way that emphasizes, in equal parts, Amina’s teenage vulnerability and immense strength. Sawyerr’s sense of rhythm adds to her performance, making this novel in verse as beautiful to listen to as it is to read in print.