Wow wow wow. First of all, I love this book. Let’s just get that out the way now. Go buy it or put it on hold at your library or strongly hint at a family member to buy it for you. Seriously. LAST SUMMER ON STATE STREET gives heart and reality to the idea of gentrification by pulling back the veil on what it really is: displacement of those who live in emotional and literal peril and poverty on a daily basis. There’s themes of Black girlhood interwoven with the complexities of being Black and poor; and I loved the moments Wolfe gives us of Fe Fe and her friends just being little girls trying to enjoy their summer. 

I loved the stylistic choice of the narrator telling us her story with a measure of hindsight, and it’s always fascinating reading a story where we know, in a larger sense, how it ends. It lends to a sense of foreboding but also allows us to fully focus on the characters and their relationships. We know abstractly where they are headed, but not necessarily how they end up there, and Wolfe does an INCREDIBLE job shepherding us on Fe Fe’s journey. I look forward to more work by this author.

This is perfect for fans of Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams; Everywhere You Don’t Belong by Gabriel Bump; Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley; and Lot by Bryan Washington.