Synopsis:

A novel-in-verse about a young girl coming-of-age and stepping out of the shadow of her former best friend. Perfect for readers of Elizabeth Acevedo and Nikki Grimes.


She looks me hard in my eyes
& my knees lock into tree trunks
My eyes don’t dance like my heartbeat racing
They stare straight back hot daggers.
/I remember things will never be the same.
I remember things.


With gritty and heartbreaking honesty, Mahogany L. Browne delivers a novel-in-verse about broken promises, fast rumors, and when growing up means growing apart from your best friend.

Chlorine Sky is a coming of age story that’s written in verse about a young African American girl who enjoys playing basketball and doing all she can to show that she can be girly and be one of the guys. Whenever she is with her friend Lay Li she feels she’s in the way or guys don’t really notice her unless she is with Lay Li. This young girl is doing her best to try and process everything with how she is being treated with her older sister at home and taking advice from her cousin. It’s like she is caught in the middle. Her friendship with Lay Li was almost ruined due to a guy running a game on Lay Li when he showed he had interests in her. In the end she is just trying to understand everything.

Final thoughts

I like that this book was written in verse, this is why I decided to pick it up. Although I wanted a lot more from this story or more explanation of things. This wasn’t a bad story, I just wanted more from it. I do like this author’s work. I read her previous book and I enjoyed that. This is nice if you want something quick to read that’s not written in a traditional story format. 

3⭐