Candice Iloh

"Break This House" is a realistic story about grief, even for those family members you thought you wanted nothing to do with. Minah is a 16 year old who thought she had left behind all her past familial issues by moving from Obsidian, Michigan to Brooklyn, New York with her father a couple years ago. But when she gets a Facebook message informing her of the death of her estranged mother, Minah finds herself drawn back to her old life and reflecting on what went wrong.

What I like about this show more book by Candice Iloh is that she's a big fan of "show, not tell." Minah never out and out says what she feels or is going on around her without us seeing a clear-cut example first. It allows for us to understand her character and her struggles in a way that is not forced or obnoxious, making this story all the more powerful.

"Break this House" is not your typical YA coming-of-age. It's not a story of happy endings or mended relationships, but of achieving closure when those broken ones finally come to an end. show less

Iloh, Candice. Every Body Looking. digital. 2020. Penguin Random House Audio.

Moving and lyrical - this coming of age story set in verse is sensational and unforgettable. Burdened with heavy expectations at a young age, Ada struggles to figure out who she is underneath the mask she puts on to appease her parents and her peers. Her father is a Nigerian immigrant and her mother is an emotionally abusive African American woman suffering from many mental health issues. Her father has custody and show more raises her in the church - setting very high standards for how she should look and behave. All Ada wants to do is dance and draw - but she is an obedient daughter and always puts her elders first. Told in alternating timelines between public school and moving away to college - readers feel the anguish and inner turmoil as Ada struggles to peel back the mask that holds her in place. Flashbacks to painful moments from the past - being molested by a cousin - segue to painful moments in Ada's now - suffering through a gynecology visit. Culture, sexuality, passion, and inner truth are discovered and fought for. Expertly narrated by the author herself - this coming of age story is one readers won't forget. At times painful, but ultimately cathartic for Ada and readers alike; impossible to put down. - Erin Cataldi, Johnson Co. Public Library, Franklin, IN show less

A novel in verse from the point of view of Ada, flashing back and forth between her first year at a Historically Black College and various points in her childhood. Ada has a complicated relationship with her parents, who are separated; she lives mainly with her dad, and was once sexually abused while staying with her mother. Although she is supposed to major in accounting, what Ada really loves is dance, and she becomes friends with Kendra, a girl who is not a student but a native of the show more city, and brings her to a dance class that shifts the course of her life.

See also: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Quotes

when you start growing
further away from
what used to be home
you go looking for somewhere
that lets you be
what's inside your head
you go find a way to get back
to your own history lesson
your own way of being alive (30)

on a new campus
where every day is a fashion show
and everyone
is also the smart black kid
in the class
trying to keep up
never works (190)

all I know is when he turns the music on
I become a slice of someone I'd always wished
I could be (342)

I don't know how
to try at something
knowing I will fail (354) show less

Ada knows how to maintain her façade as the ideal child; though, she is willfully ignorant of her own wants, needs, and desires. Collage provides the opportunity to explore her interests, origins, beliefs, and traumas. Development of Ada’s relationships promotes the confidence needed for self- acceptance.

Author and narrator Candice Iloh depicts Ada’s trials through poetry. Candice depicts bewilderment just as experienced, in fragments that need to be pieced together with gaps missing. show more This allows the reader to make many inferences and Ada more relatable. Every Body Looking touches on topics of: sexuality, drug abuse, sexual assault, religion, heritage, and ethnicity. show less