(S)Kin Ibi Zoboi 9780062888877

From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut-a novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore-about the power of inherited magic and the price we must pay to live the life we yearn for.

"Our new home with its

thick walls and locked doors

wants me to stay trapped in my skin-

but I am fury and flame."

Fifteen-year-old Marisol is the daughter of a soucouyant. Every new moon, she sheds her skin like the many women before her, shifting into a fireball witch who must fly into the night and slowly sip from the lives of others to sustain her own. But Brooklyn is no place for fireball witches with all its bright lights, shut windows, and bolt-locked doors.... While Marisol hoped they would leave their old traditions behind when they emigrated from the islands, she knows this will never happen while she remains ensnared by the one person who keeps her chained to her magical past-her mother.

Seventeen-year-old Genevieve is the daughter of a college professor and a newly minted older half sister of twins. Her worsening skin condition and the babies' constant wailing keep her up at night, when she stares at the dark sky with a deep longing to inhale it all. She hopes to quench the hunger that gnaws at her, one that seems to reach for some memory of her estranged mother. When a new nanny arrives to help with the twins, a family secret connecting her to Marisol is revealed, and Gen begins to find answers to questions she hasn't even thought to ask.

But the girls soon discover that the very skin keeping their flames locked beneath the surface may be more explosive to the relationships around them than any ancient magic.

About the Author
Ibi Zoboi is the New York Times bestselling author of American Street, a National Book Award finalist; Nigeria Jones, a Coretta Scott King Award winner; Pride; My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich; Okoye to the People: A Black Panther Novel for Marvel; and the Walter Award and LA Times Book Prize-winning Punching the Air, cowritten with Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam. She is also a two-time Coretta Scott King Honor Award winner for her picture book The People Remember and her middle grade biography of Octavia Butler, Star Child. She is the editor of the anthology Black Enough. Born in Haiti and raised in New York City, she now lives in New Jersey with her family. You can find her online at ibizoboi.net.

Reviews
Praise for NIGERIA JONES: "Zoboi artfully introduces each chapter through an epigraph, each a quote either altered to center or by Black women, and structures the book by article, ultimately creating the Constitution of Nigeria Jones. These stylistic choices echo the themes of Black girlhood and intersectionality seamlessly woven throughout Nigeria's story. A beautifully constructed portrait of one young woman growing into her own that will move readers to deeply consider the very same questions Nigeria must answer for herself." - School Library Journal (starred review) "Through Nigeria's powerfully resonant first-person voice, Zoboi's mesmerizing storytelling soars." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) "This book calls for deep discussions about the roles of Black women in the Black freedom struggle as well as the role of young people in these movements.... An opportunity for teen readers to begin grappling with their own ideas of what the revolution looks like." - Horn Book (starred review) "Zoboi tells a singular story of a singular girl, and Nigeria Jones opens wide and welcoming arms to readers." - BookPage (starred review) "An emotional journey.... It is through this story that we see the multilayered truth of Black identity." - ALA Booklist "[Nigeria's] personal journey toward emotional and radical self-honesty shapes this superb story.... A thoughtful reflection of real multilayered freedom struggles within Black diasporic communities. A strong declaration for supporting, loving, and empowering all Black women everywhere." - Kirkus Reviews "An elaborate structure and ideological boldness truly set Zoboi's novel apart." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Nigeria Jones is an unwavering proclamation of Black girlhood that stretches far beyond surface ideas of strength, tenacity, and survival. This is a story that plunges head first into the nuances of a teenage girl's personhood, while contemplating what it means to be seen as a small part of a whole. Ibi Zoboi offers a bold meditation on what it means to question your place in, while being critical of, a community that has always been your home. Here, she asks: what does a Black girl do with her guilt and her grief in the midst of all her power?" - Candice Iloh, author of National Book Award finalist Every Body Looking "To read Nigeria Jones is to have the honor of being invited to one of the most unapologetically Black, womanist, and liberating worlds ever penned. Ibi Zoboi has masterfully woven together a story that explores the dynamism of marginalized people who have often been erased from American literary canon. Through Nigeria and other deeply compelling characters, Ibi has written a love letter to any and everyone who has yearned to feel seen, fought for survival, and been driven by the hope of freedom. If there is a list of essential books for young people, Nigeria Jones MUST be on it." - Frederick Joseph, New York Times Bestselling Author "Nigeria Jones is a passionate, powerful, and fearless novel about grief and discovering one's own true identity. A brilliant coming-of-age declaration." - Malinda Lo, National Book Award-winning author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club



Book Information
ISBN 9780062888877
Author Ibi Zoboi
Format Hardback
Page Count 400
Imprint HarperCollins
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Weight(grams) 454g