An excellent choice for lovers of poetry and for those who see the beauty in sadness. Your debut novel-in-verse is a story of identity, first love, and the power of memory to help us move forward after tragedy. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with her dog, Shiloh. Amber McBrides debut novel, Me (Moth), is a story about identity, first love, and the ways that our memories and our roots steer us through the universe. Her poetry has been published in several literary magazines including Ploughshares and The Rumpus. Written in verse, this debut novel is hauntingly romantic, refusing to be rushed or put down without deep contemplation of what it means to accept the tragedies of our lives and to reckon with the ways we metamorphosize as a result of them. Amber McBride is an English professor at the University of Virginia and holds an MFA in poetry from Emerson College. Readers will be consumed by the weight of McBride’s intentionality from road trip stops to the nuance of everything that goes unsaid. Though the traditions are distinct on their own, McBride artfully weaves Black Southern hoodoo traditions with those of the Navajo/Diné people, creating a beautiful and cross-cultural reverence for the earth, its inhabitants, and our ancestors. But when they reach Sani’s motherland, the tribal lands of the Navajo Nation, a shocking yet obvious revelation rears its head. Together, the two steal away on a summer road trip, sharing the dreams they keep hidden and the spiritual practices they have in common.

Though no one else seems to pay Moth any attention, Sani sees her for what she is-beautiful, broken, and yet still so worthy of life’s offerings.

But then she meets Sani, a half Navajo, half white boy with hair like a waterfall, struggling with a broken family, suppressed desires, and his mental health. A debut YA novel-in-verse by Amber McBride, Me (Moth) is about a teen girl who is grieving the deaths of her family, and a teen boy who crosses her path. Moth lost her entire family in a car crash last summer, leaving her feeling invisible and unwanted in her aunt’s home.

Me by Amber McBride