Thank you to Feiwel & Friends (via NetGalley) for the ARC!

Content warnings:

Spoiler

car accident (recounted), death of family members, suicidal ideation, physical abuse by a trusted adult

ME (MOTH) is a haunting, beautiful, painful debut novel in verse. Moth, a junior in high school, has lost her entire immediate family in a horrific car accident and is drifting through life while living with her Aunt Jack. On the day before the last day of school, she meets Sani, who she has never seen at school before. Sani lives ten houses down, and they immediately connect. Sani also has a lot of pain in his life. He feels as if his Navajo father, who lives out west, has abandoned him, and now he's stuck in Virginia with his white mother and an abusive step-father.

Moth and Sani have both given things up. Moth, a ballerina, no longer dances after the loss of her family. Sani doesn't sing anymore. They bond immediately over their pain and sadness and plan a road trip out to where Sani's father lives because neither can stand to stay in Virginia anymore.

Along the way they share parts of each other that have been hidden away to everyone for years. Moth shares stories from her grandfather and the Hoodoo traditions he passed on to her. Sani shares the Navajo mythology he learned from his medicine man father. They tell each other stories and leave offerings to the ancestors along the road as they travel west.

McBride's writing is poetic and lyrical and so evocative. Though Moth and Sani hardly know each other, their connection seems genuine and intense. The words of their story mix seamlessly with the song lyrics they write together to create an emotionally powerful story with an unexpected twist near the end.

I read this book in less than twelve hours, but I think it will stay with me for a long time. The power in McBride's words created an unforgettable and magical story that I definitely recommend