Guest post written by The Summer I Ate the Rich co-authors Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite
Maika and Maritza are sisters and coauthors of young adult novels. Their latest novel is THE SUMMER I ATE THE RICH, and one of the most anticipated YA books of 2025. They’re also the authors of the well-received novels DEAR HAITI, LOVE ALAINE and ONE OF THE GOOD ONES. When they aren’t working diligently on their next project, Maika and Maritza are sharpening their skills as PhD students at Hownard University and the University of Pennsylvania respectively.
The Summer I Ate the Rich is a smart, biting novel explores what happens when a Haitian American girl uses her previously hidden zombie abilities to exact revenge on the wealthy elites who’ve caused her family pain. Out April 22nd in the US and April 24th in the UK.
The Summer I Ate the Rich tells the story of Brielle Petitfour, a Haitian American zombie who decides to seek revenge on the wealthy elites she blames for her family’s pain. Zombies actually come from Haitian lore and are rooted in the very real fears that enslaved Haitians had of being forced to continue working in death—an eternal nightmare.
Of course, Brielle also has to deal with challenges that many children of immigrants may recognize: making your parents’ sacrifices worth it, trying to be true to yourself even when it goes against family expectations, and retaining a connection to the homeland you might not know as well as you’d like. Ultimately, Brielle decides to lean into her urges and uses her previously hidden abilities to take matters into her own hands and serve some just desserts.
Here are a few books that tap into some of the more horrific themes in The Summer I Ate the Rich.
(S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi
Marisol is a soucouyant who must regularly shed her skin to feed on others but wishes to be free from the island traditions that her mother has forced her to follow her entire life. Genevieve struggles with a chronic skin condition that constantly leaves her skin feeling as if it is on fire, and is also the new older half sister of twins born of her college professor father and slightly uptight step mother. The two protagonists’ lives begin to unravel when a nanny who comes to care for Genevieve’s new siblings reveals that they are all mysteriously linked.
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation features an alternate America where the North and South join forces during the Civil War after the dead rise again on the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Like many of the Native and Negro children born after the passing of the Native and Negro Reeducation Act, Jane McKeene is tasked with becoming an Attendant, equally skilled in etiquette and weaponry, to protect the well-to-do from the undead. Jane is on the cusp of graduating from Miss Preston’s School of Combat when she finds herself in the center of a conspiracy that will have readers grappling with what is scarier—Reconstruction-era zombies or the racism Jane is forced to navigate.
It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass
Maya wanted just one more hoorah with her (former) best friends Pearl, Erica, and Lystra to celebrate the end of high school and moving on to the rest of their lives. Then, something terrible happens and Erica does not make it back from the trip. Everyone is shocked out of their grieving when Erica returns one day… different. What happened to her?
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Korede tries her best to be a good sibling to her youngest sister Ayoola, but Ayoola makes it really, really hard. You see, Ayoola has killed her last three boyfriends and Korede has cleaned up her mess each time. When Ayoola sets her sights on the doctor Korede works with at a hospital and happens to be in love with, Korede has to be honest about just how monstrous her sister truly is.
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
Madison Washington has long been bullied for being an outcast but things take an even more troubling turn when her fellow high school classmates learn that she has been passing for white her entire life. After a racist incident goes viral online, the small-town Georgia high school finally decides to integrate its annual prom. When Maddie is asked to attend the celebration with the Black superstar quarterback boyfriend of the very popular white class president, Maddie almost feels like she can live a regular life, one that isn’t influenced by her ultra-religious father who has long controlled every aspect of Maddie’s existence. Things come to a head when the students decide to play one more prank on Maddie, but Maddie has her own hidden secrets. Who will have the last laugh?
