Pet - Akwaeke Emezi

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster - and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also uncover the truth, and the answer to the question - how do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?"

📚📚📚 

Wow, how to even talk about this book. It clocks in at just over two hundred pages, so while it's heavy, it also went by in a blur. I think that was equal parts the length and the writing style - like their main character, Akwaeke Emezi doesn't mince words. The world is introduced and established quickly, Pet emerges from the painting, and the hunt begins. There's no meandering, no side quests. ONLY the hunt. 

I thought that directness was very suitable for the story being told, and I also really appreciated the way what the monster has done was made clear without actually saying "this is what you did, how dare you?" It's difficult to write about sensitive topics like this and strike the right tone/balance, and too often it almost veers into voyeuristic territory. I know it isn't intentional, and it's not like I think authors are out here relishing writing about such terrible things, it's just that sometimes the quest to paint the picture becomes...too much. This was an expert demonstration of how to tell a vivid, heartrending story without spelling out every little detail.

I also love how effortlessly inclusive this book was. Jam, the main character, is trans and chooses not to voice often (extra snaps for specifying VOICING and not SPEAKING), instead preferring to use sign language. Others in her life have learned sign in order to communicate with her, including the town's librarian, who is a wheelchair user, and her best friend, who lives in a three parent household. All of these details are woven into the story with no fanfare. It isn't something different or unusual, it's just life. It's how things are. That's so unusual in the majority of books, and we need more of it. Just...all around, such an incredible book. 

Finally, since I can't end this without saying something about him, Ube is the best example of what a librarian should be. Welcoming, inclusive, and a believer that even if someone is a kid, they deserve access to the truth and to accurate information. They deserve to be given the tools they need to make their own educated decisions. I aspire to be like Ube.