Everyone's Thinking It

July 17, 2023
Estranged British Nigerian cousins Iyanu and Kitan are two of the few Black students attending Wodebury Hall, an English countryside boarding school. While day student Iyanu, a budding photographer, prefers to fade into the background, affluent boarder Kitan has situated herself at the top of the social food chain alongside her white besties. But Iyanu is thrust into the spotlight when photos she took of her classmates at the recent winter fair vanish from the school’s darkroom and begin appearing around campus with cruel rumors and comments written on them. Resolving to clear her name, Iyanu—accompanied by her crush—set out to uncover the culprit. Among the possible perpetrators is Kitan’s best friend Heather, the most popular girl in school, who “always ensures that her white skin is just bronzed enough for her to appear ‘exotic Black.’ ” Recalling Mean Girls, Omotoni’s compulsively entertaining debut adeptly addresses topics surrounding bullying, classism, homophobia, identity, and racism via Iyanu and Kitan’s alternating chapters, which piece together their fraught relationship history amid the school’s current fallout in biting prose. Ages 13–up. Agent: Chloe Seager, Madeleine Milburn Literary.

July 15, 2023
Nigerian cousins reckon in very different ways with life at their predominantly white English private school. Iyanu Da Silva is a budding photographer and day student at Wodebury Hall. While her cousin Kitan Ladipo is a boarder there, the two Black girls occupy different social strata. Kitan is best friends with two popular white girls, but this acceptance comes at a personal price. Iyanu recently traveled to London for the Black Girls Winter Fair, where she met her favorite writer, and she hopes to write about the experience in her application for a photojournalist position at an online magazine founded by queer women of color. Despite her outsider status, Iyanu is chosen to photograph a school matchmaking event. But her photos and negatives from the winter fair and the evening social disappear from the school darkroom--and reappear with nasty rumors and comments attached that disrupt the social order at Wodebury and land Iyanu in the hot seat. Now Iyanu and Quincy, her longtime friend and crush, are trying to discover who is behind the theft and sabotage. Through chapters alternating between the cousins' first-person perspectives, the book insightfully explores Blackfishing, racism and microaggressions, and biases Black girls face in beauty standards and dating. The central relationship arcs are handled well and will resonate with readers. Teens of many different backgrounds will find elements of their lives reflected in this narrative. A thought-provoking novel about the high cost of fitting in. (author's note with content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2023
Grades 8-12 For cousins Iyanu and Kitan, the reality of attending an elite, predominantly white boarding school as two Nigerian girls is taxing. Wodebury Hall is a hotbed of both racial and sexuality-based microaggressions, and the girls navigate this tumultuous landscape in differing ways. Iyanu stays on the outskirts of popularity while working toward her goal of becoming a photojournalist. Kitan instead chooses to dampen her true identity so that she can fit in with her popular friends, causing a rift between her and Iyanu. When Iyanu's photos are stolen and redistributed to the student body with salacious secrets attached, Iyanu and Kitan have to delve into the underbelly of the school to find out who did it. Omotoni's debut is equal parts intriguing and exciting. She does more than create a space for the necessary commentary on racism, sexism, and homophobia. She also takes us on an emotional roller coaster that has us rooting for both Iyanu and Kitan. Readers will relish the ending and both character transformations.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.