True True

Gr 6-9–A Black teen from Brooklyn gets into a predominantly white prep school in Manhattan and is thrust into a world of microaggressions and outright racism. But before one begins to think this is a tale as (unfortunately) old as time, readers are introduced to Gil—Hooper’s martial-arts practicing, Jamaican flag-waving, poetry and robotics team-loving protagonist who quickly assures readers that this story is anything but stale. When Gil is given a copy of The Art of War at his dojo, the book really picks up as he uses Sun Tzu’s time-honored strategies to gather a following and take on the racist underpinnings of his new school. Infused with the modern and quick language one expects from a contemporary YA novel, mixed with the energy of New York City seen through the eyes of Jamaican immigrants, Dreamers, and first-generation kids, the author takes readers on a journey as Gil figures out how a place at the school of his dreams mixes (or doesn’t) with the only life he has ever known in Brooklyn.