Untraceable

September 1, 2023
In this YA companion to middle-grade thriller Undercover Latina (2022), a Los Angeles teen's family tries to escape her mother's dangerous ex. Fifteen-year-old Amani Kendall goes from practicing roller skating for an upcoming birthday party one day to starting over in a different school with a cover story and a fake name the next. Amani never fit in at elite, STEM-focused Penfield Academy as a "plus-size Black girl who wore African braids...because her mother wouldn't let her flat-iron her hair." But after Amani encounters a creepy man in her backyard and makes a police report (to her mother's great displeasure), everything changes. Her mom picks her up early from school, informing her that their house was burned down, possibly by a stalker ex-boyfriend. Amani's dad, a climate-change researcher, has been away working in the field for months. Amani and her mom take shelter with Sister Niema, who ran the Afrocentric weekend school for girls Amani once attended. Now going by Imani Kennedy, she starts over--with some negative preconceptions about her new classmates--at a public school that's dramatically different from her old one. But she can't help feeling like her mom is hiding something. This body-positive story has an exciting premise and addresses many relevant social issues. Unfortunately, the slow pace makes it difficult to sustain readers' interest, and the book juggles a number of plotlines that don't deliver on their promise. Underwhelming. (Fiction. 12-16)

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November 24, 2023

Gr 6 Up-Fifteen-year-old Amani Kendall receives the shock of her life when she discovers her parents are secret undercover agents of the Factory-an international organization of spies protecting people of color. She and her Mom are forced to move suddenly when their cover is blown, and they settle with a family friend, Sister Niema. Amani, using the name Imani, struggles to adapt to the abrupt cultural differences in being surrounded by Black students at her new public school in contrast to her former all-white elite private school. Eventually meeting up with her missing father, the family must embark on a dangerous journey that forces Amani to make some tough decisions. Amani's voice rings true as a plus-size Black adolescent struggling to accept her own beauty in a world where skinny and white represent the ideal. She is her own worst critic; young readers will identify with her anxieties. Amani's thought processes as she puts two and two together about her parents steadily builds the suspense through the narrative. There are multiple social issues covered, such as abortion and racism. The plot is extremely busy, and it may be hard for readers to keep up with the rapid fire action. This is a prequel companion to the author's Undercover. VERDICT A complex Black girl sleuth uncovers a web of lies in this spy thriller. Purchase where the genre is popular.-Julie Shatterly

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