TL;DR
Overall rating: 5/5
Genre: Realistic fiction; magical realism
Length: 304 pages
One-sentence summary: In this heavily autobiographical novel, Echo Brown lives where apartments are small and parents are addicted to "the white rocks," but magic is all around.
Tough topics: alcohol and drug abuse, sexual abuse and rape, suicide, racism, death
Read-alikes: Beloved, Bone Gap, The Hate U Give I Crawl Through It
Available formats: Audio and electronic
The full title of the novel is Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard, but if you're looking for a Harry Potter readalike, then this is NOT it. Echo is a Black teenager living on the poor side of 1980s Cleveland, but attending a rich white school across town. The book starts when she is 6-years-old and already realizing that she must dig deep within herself to rise above life’s worst circumstances, including poverty, sexual violence, depression, addiction, intergenerational trauma, racism, and sexism. As she grows up, Echo learns she is a wizard and begins to cultivate her powers with the assistance of other magical women in her life.
To be clear, Echo is not actually a wizard--there are no wands or incantations or owls. Her wizardry is an allegory for the ways in which she learns to lift herself up and make something out of nothing. If you like straightforward, you are not going to enjoy this book. Besides its metaphorical nature, the story skips around in time a bit, which may be confusing for readers used to a linear narration. If you're comfortable with all that, though, as well as the tough topics that are addressed, then this is an incredibly powerful book with a strong and fascinating main character. I have been thinking about it still, even though I finished it several days ago. I highly recommend the audio version; it's read by the author!
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