#AGoodNeighborhood

What a cataclysmic, heart breaking story of seemingly small moments going terribly awry! A Good Neighborhood is in part the story of Xavier and Juniper, teens who fall in love over the literal and metaphorical fence in Juniper’s backyard. Many seemingly insignificant choices lead to larger moments and decisions that ultimately demonstrate systemic racism and lead to heartbreak.

From the beginning, the reader is told by the narrator, the neighborhood, that this story regrettably ends with a body being found in the woods. As the tale unfolds, the unfairness of several systems as well as society is highlighted, and as a reader I hoped that the teens would overcome these challenges. A Good Neighborhood is not only the story of Juniper and Xavier, but also the story of the history of racism in our country, and 2 families trying to make good lives for themselves in a “good” neighborhood.

I liked how Therese Fowler chose to tell this important story - with the neighborhood as a narrator to these events. This provided a unique perspective to the reader, as an outsider looking in, on the dynamics of the neighborhood and families involved. A Good Neighborhood is a story that will grab you, whirl you around, and leave your heart pounding with the resolution.

Thank you to #StMartinsPress for the early copy!! A Good Neighborhood is published on March 10.

A Good Neighborhood - Therese Fowler