"Kiley Reid wades into a quagmire of complex race relations in Such a Fun Age. Emira Tucker is listless after college, scraping by with a babysitting job for a high-profile Lifestyle Guru. During a night of marital tension between her employers, Emira takes the young girl in her charge to a nearby grocery store to shield her from the drama unfolding at home. While she's there, she's accosted by a security guard who's suspicious of the young black woman with a white toddler in tow. This encounter sparks a wave of reactions from the people involved - her employer finds herself newly invested in Emira's future, casting herself in the role of mentor and guardian. A witness to the event begins a romantic relationship with Emira, over time revealing a history of transgressing into black spaces. Emira herself doesn't know what to make of these new intimacies, or what they mean for her identity."
Publisher Penguin
Publication Date 2021-04-20
Section New Titles - Paperback / Fiction / All Staff Suggestions / Fiction Suggestions / Melissa S.
Format Paperback
ISBN 9780525541912
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A REESE’S BOOK CLUB x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK PICK
A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains’ toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store’s security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.
But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix’s desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix’s past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other.
