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I'm Not Dying with You Tonight by Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones. Unabridged downloadable e-audiobook, ~5 hours. Read by Brittany Presley and Channie Waites. Recorded Books, September, 2019. (Review of e-audiobook borrowed from public library.)
Teen Tuesday features I'm Not Dying with You Tonight by Gillie Segal and Kimberly Jones. This dual narrative is a taut, present tense narrative of one scary night that started at a high school football game, then ended on the streets of Atlanta. Two senior girls are thrown together after a racial slur prompts a fist-fight, which devolves into chaos once the police arrive. Lena is a confident alpha girl with a strong sense of fashion and Campbell is newly arrived at the school and just trying to get through senior year unnoticed. The two girls from very different backgrounds, one white, one black, must rely on each other to survive the night of rioting.
If the sequence of events seem a tad improbable, the quibble is soon lost in the intensity of the interaction between the two main characters. The authors vividly describe the chaos danger of the fighting, riots and looting. Also timely are the assumptions each girl has about the other. This fast, compelling read should spark conversations about race relations and white privilege.
The pacing and performances of both narrators were pitch perfect, adding to the suspense of the story.
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