Gone Wolf

August 15, 2023
A 12-year-old Black girl deals with fear, grief, pain, and suffering caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and America's history of enslavement and racist violence. It's the year 2111, and Inmate Eleven is undergoing a test. She must decide which is better: the blond, blue-eyed, light-skinned doll or the doll with blue skin and hair like her own. Inmate Eleven's world is cruel and fractured: As a Blue, she's separated from the pale-skinned Clones and has been isolated in a cell her whole life. Her only source of comfort is her dog, Ira; they both long for escape. "Bible Boot" flash cards fill in the backstory through references to an alternate but recognizable history: a 2016 election, xenophobia, a wall, a worldwide virus, and vaccines. Blues are regarded as inferior, their bodies exploited to prolong the lives of Clones; they are actually Black Americans whose stolen freedom has caused them to turn blue with sadness. Back in 2022, Imogen is trapped by fear and grief from racist violence and devastating pandemic losses. She finds relief and healing through sharing her stories and builds relationships with Black role models like her therapist and her mentor from the Big Sister program. Textbook pages at the ends of chapters share true Black history. McBride's multidimensional genius shines through, artfully exposing the reality that Black Americans have lived lifetimes of dystopias. She scrupulously guides the complicated storyline and hard histories with context, definitions, and word choices. Raw, incisive, and authentic. (author's note) (Fiction. 11-16)

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Starred review from September 4, 2023
This profound middle grade debut by McBride (We Are All So Good at Smiling), set in 2111 and 2022, follows two Black tweens navigating grief and racism. In 2111, in the Bible Boot, pale-skinned Clones are the ruling class while Black children called Blues are kept separate from society. A Blue girl called Inmate Eleven lives under confinement with her genetically modified dog Ira, whose tendency to “go wolf” inspires her to imagine a world elsewhere. As Inmate Eleven learns more about the systemic racism against Blues in the Bible Boot, she discovers that everything she’s learned about the world under Clone leadership has been a lie, and longs for escape. Meanwhile, in 2022 America, 12-year-old Imogen grapples with the long-term effects of an unnamed virus that has ravaged the nation while working through an unspecified traumatic event in therapy. McBride skillfully weaves each girl’s experience into the other’s via callbacks. In this weighty read, which explores the consequences of loss, quarantine, and racism on Black youth, the author employs brilliantly inventive storytelling as a tool through which the protagonists process their grief and find their people. An author’s note details historical events addressed in the book. Ages 10–14.

September 1, 2023

Gr 5 Up-Inmate Eleven has never seen the sky, or even been outside in her 12 years. All she knows is that there's a virus outside and she can't leave without a vaccine. In order to get the vaccine, she must pass tests to be sure she is ready. She is eventually paired with a child called Larkin who is the son of the President. A young Black girl, Inmate Eleven thinks her life may be changing for the better, but little does she know what lies ahead. The book is split into three major sections that deal with Inmate Eleven in the year 2111, and a girl named Imogen in 2022. Imogen has to come to terms with several things that have impacted her life due to the pandemic and her mental health. This book is written in a conversational tone, so it's a quick read. At the end of each chapter there are notecards to help readers understand what is happening in each character's world. The book deals with tough topics like racism, generational trauma, and the pandemic. Each section is masterfully written, and will cause a few eyes to tear up. McBride includes some notes at the end of the book with an explanation of real and historical events. VERDICT Great for libraries looking for more diverse voices, and books that touch on the topic of the pandemic in a relatable way.-Kristin J. Anderson

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2023
McBride (We Are All So Good at Smiling, rev. 1/23) begins this compelling novel in the year 2111: a girl known as Inmate Eleven has lived in a small cell her whole life. All she knows she's learned from Miss Abby, a pale-skinned "Clone" who describes blue-skinned people as "genetic mistakes, which is why we take care of you here." Inmate Eleven's only true companion is her dog, Ira, who will occasionally "go wolf," pacing the cell, looking desperately as if he wishes to be somewhere else. When she finally learns the disturbing truth -- that Blues are Black Americans, turned blue from generational trauma; and Clones are white Elitists from the "Bible Boot" of the South -- she must escape to save herself. Meanwhile, in the year 2022, young Imogen is struggling with both the racially motivated violence across the country and the catastrophic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. When Imogen and her mother finally find a therapist willing to listen to her whole story, the juxtaposition of past, present, and future creates a jarring narrative. Interspersed throughout are Bible Boot Learning Flash Cards propaganda and asides at the end of Inmate Eleven's chapters touting the virtue of Clones over the "lesser" Blues. A strong voice in the sci-fi genre, McBride presents a fascinating discussion of the inextricable bond between Black Americans and the blues. Eboni Njoku

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from October 15, 2023
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* There are two realities for Imogen. In one reality, she is simply known as Inmate Eleven, and she lives in the Bible Boot, a place that has reinstated slavery for Black Americans. Some of those enslaved people are so sad that they have physically turned blue. Imogen is one of those "blue" people, one who lives in a prison with her wolf-dog, Ira. Imogen yearns to be free of the binds that the "clones" harness her with. In another reality, Imogen is a girl in the modern world, dealing with the aftermath of racial violence, a devastating virus, post-election discord, and the death that links all of these things in her life. National Book Award finalist McBride, author of Me (Moth) (2021), is a master at crafting characters who are unapologetically flawed, a pattern that continues in this, her middle-grade debut. Imogen's character perfectly personifies the continuous shroud of grief that Black Americans have to live with in a post-pandemic, post-2016 election world. But even with the integration of the theme of grief throughout the novel, there is still the insistence of hope. McBride examines the beauty in Black resilience and the importance of building community. This novel is an integral addition to the children's literary canon.

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