Our Shouts Echo

At risk of repeating sophomore year, anxious Black 16-year-old Niarah Holloway must spend the summer completing her capstone project and making up PE credits. A doomsday prepper and self-proclaimed weird kid, Niarah decides to use her project as an excuse to work on Camp Doom, the detached garage she plans to convert into a bunker. With her summer plans locked in, she doesn’t anticipate encountering Latinx graduating senior Mac, cofounder of the hiking group Color Outside, which Niarah is forced to join to earn her PE credits. Mac offers to help Niarah with Camp Doom, leading to many spirited debates regarding preparing for the end of the world vs. living in the moment, and as the two grow closer, Niarah becomes more aware of Mac’s imminent move from L.A. for college. Now, she must reckon with the possibility of losing the first glimmer of joy she’s felt in a long time. In a narrative that teems with hope, nihilism, and strong anti-capitalist themes, Adia (There Goes the Neighborhood) pays homage to the “boiling cauldron of terror we live in” via a scorching blend of realistic teenage snark and achingly earnest prose. Sex-positive messaging throughout adds further depth to this already potent romance. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Aug.)