Bright Red Fruit
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
An unflinching, honest novel in verse about a teenager's journey into the slam poetry scene and the dangerous new relationship that could threaten all her dreams. From the award-winning poet and author of HOME IS NOT A COUNTRY.
Bad girl. No matter how hard Samira tries, she can’t shake her reputation. She’s never gotten the benefit of the doubt—not from her mother or the aunties who watch her like a hawk.
Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet—until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. When Samira turns to a poetry forum for solace, she catches the eye of an older, charismatic poet named Horus. For the first time, Samira feels wanted. But soon she’s keeping a bigger secret than ever before—one that that could prove her reputation and jeopardize her place in her community.
In this gripping coming-of-age novel from the critically acclaimed author Safia Elhillo, a young woman searches to find the balance between honoring her family, her artistry, and her authentic self.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sixteen-year-old Samira has never kissed a boy, let alone done any of the things her former crush claims they did. Still, rumors spread like wildfire throughout her tight-knit Sudanese community. Now labeled a "bad girl," her strict mother upends Samira's vision of a perfect summer by placing her on indefinite house arrest, the monotony of which is only broken by Samira's attending a teen poetry workshop that her aunt drives her to and from. When social media posts of her classmates enjoying the summer and the distance between her and her mother become too much, Samira looks to an online poetry message board for connection. There, she meets an older, magnetic poet named Horus. For the first time, someone is complimenting her poetry—and her. But as their relationship develops, Samira is forced to keep secrets that jeopardize her reputation, her relationships, and herself. In perceptive verse, Elhillo (Home Is Not a Country) navigates hard-hitting topics such as grooming, predation, and sex shaming. Samira's journey of self-discovery—and the external forces trying to dim her light—are sensitively and richly wrought, culminating in both a mesmerizing verse novel and a gripping exploration of the hyper-policing of Black girls' bodies and sexuality. Ages 12–up.
