The Mythic Koda Rose

May 31, 2021
As the daughter of a rock and roll musician father who died by suicide when she was a baby, Koda Rose has plenty to compare herself to. She flew mostly under the radar in L.A, but now that she’s nearly 18 and moving with her former-model mother to Manhattan—her father’s old stomping grounds—the tabloids are paying more attention. Koda knows much more about whales than about her father’s music, and spends most of her time wishing she could tell her best friend in L.A. that she’s in love with her. Then Koda runs into Sadie, her father’s reclusive old girlfriend and bandmate, and they strike up a friendship that reveals more about Koda’s dad and distances the teen from her mother. Nissley’s debut puts a naïve teenager into situations she doesn’t fully comprehend—though youthful-seeming Koda’s surprising naivete in the face of Sadie’s sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll charisma can feel frustrating, her introspective struggle with her secret-filled white family’s legacy makes for an offbeat read. Ages 14–up.