Brooke's Pick: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

What begins as a simple late night field trip to an upscale neighborhood grocery store for babysitter Emira Tucker and her young charge, Briar, quickly escalates into a nightmare when Emira, a young, black woman with a white toddler in tow, is accused of kidnapping the child with the entire event being caught on tape. This night is the start of a string events that will eventually lead to Emira and her employer Alix finding a startling connection between their vastly different lives. This discovery leads them down a path they never expected, and will change both their lives forever.

From the very first chapter of Kiley Reid's engaging debut novel Such a Fun Age, readers are immersed into a witty and insightful examination of race and privilege, and the relationship between a black babysitter and her well-to-do, well-intentioned, but often misdirected white employer. This book is sharp and funny, but also thought-provoking and unexpected. Reid paints vibrant characters that leap off the page, and she forms relationships between these characters that are true and endearing.

Going into this book, I thought that it would mostly revolve around the grocery store incident and its aftermath, but I soon discovered that Such a Fun Age is more about young adulthood and all of its nuances, including new relationships, career choices, and friends that stick together through thick and thin. Race and privilege, two ideas explored within the pages of this novel, are deftly interwoven into the story through alternating chapters told by Emira and Alix, with both parts seamlessly working together to tell a completely intriguing tale of two disparate worlds.

Readers of literary fiction should pick up Such a Fun Age, as well as anyone who is keeping up with Reese Witherspoon's Book Club Picks. This novel will also be enjoyed by anyone who loves issue-oriented books, as well as readers who like the distinct writing style and voice of today's Millennial authors.

Availability: Book; eBook in CloudLibrary; eAudiobook in CloudLibrary
 Rating: **** Stars (I really liked it)
 Reviewer: Brooke, Public Relations Librarian

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 Such a Fun Age

AWARDS: LibraryReads Favorites: 2019
 GENRE: African American Fiction; Literary Fiction
 TONE: Thought-Provoking
 STORYLINE: Character-Driven; Own Voices
 WRITING STYLE: Engaging; Stylistically Complex
 LOCATION: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 SUBJECT: African American Women; Babysitters; Children; Consequences; Former Lovers; Interpersonal Relations; Interracial Romance; Malicious Accusation; Race Relations; Racism; Self-Doubt; Whiteness

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